Songs:Henry Joseph (69942)

Lyrics

Henry Joseph was a farmer in the Oklahoma sun
homestead a century ago
He cut the earth with many oxen, built his house of sodden ton
safe in the blistering snow
And the crops grew high for one year
then failed to come for three
His wife gave the birthing to seven
Some would work but some would leave

Henry Joseph, there’s no time for looking back
in the land you knew so long
All those rolling fields, they’re waiting for you now
in the Oklahoma sun
To gather the harvest in

Henry Junior was a farmer in the Oklahoma sun
Drove tractor from dawn to dusk
He cut the Earth in the same way each and every year
and gathered the harvest in
The crops grew hot and thirsty
in the dustbowl of '33
His wife gave the birthing to seven
but most went west to the San Joaquin

Henry Joseph, the days are looking bad
in the land you knew so long
And all those arid fields, they’re waiting for you now
in the Oklahoma sun
To gather the harvest in

In the boom of the '50s everything was looking good
Hard times seemed long, long ago
There was sweeping legislation and all new machines
and crops grew in endless rows
The nation grew and prospered
and ate all the fat of the land
The family handed over
the head of the table to Uncle Sam

Henry Joseph, the days never end
in the land you knew so long
And all those wealthy fields, they’re waiting for you now
in the Oklahoma sun
To gather the harvest in

Henry’s family still are farmers in the Oklahoma sun
Trying times are at hand
Idle tractors in the shed rows and the engines do not run
in fields that are under manned
The banker took the combine
to pay off last year’s bills
and the family lives in too many states
they know it’s time to come on home

Henry Joseph, well it’s time for looking back
in the land you knew so long
and all those empty fields, they’re waiting for you now
in the Oklahoma sun
Henry Joseph, there’s no time for looking back
in the land you knew so long
and all those rollin' fields, they’re waiting for you now
in the Oklahoma sun
to gather the harvest in

--Paul Kamm, Chris Kamm 1989 Ruby eyes Pub., BMI