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Four Lane Highway & Mobile Homes
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Social Commentary about the death of the family farm and farming communities from corporate agribusiness.
acoustic folk social commentary political satire western massachusetts oil coal climate change fracking incineration music for social change nuclear energy
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Folk singer, social commentary, satire, people's stories, children's music
Hi Folks, The Bard Insurgent here. My comrade D.O. (the Poet Roofer) and I got that handle (The Bard Insurgents) from traveling town to town performing songs and poetry about people's lives. I've been performing since I was 3 years old, cutting my vocal chords on liturgical and classical music. I was a concert soloist as a child, when I wasn't herding cows, throwing hay and shoveling manure. During the Civil Rights movement and the Vietnam war, I began writing songs about social change. I left the country in 1970 and my dozen years in other countries, mostly in Africa & South America, have provided a global perspective to my music. My travels helped me realize that people all around the world are essentially the same in their basic life needs and their desires to live peacefully in their communities. These experiences have informed my commitment to working for international understanding as I organize at home. A powerful way to educate and inspire is with music. I tell people's stories, do social commentary with a touch of satire that I hope you enjoy and share with your friends, as well as sing together in the streets and in your living rooms. I also have children's music written for the children in my life with Jacob and Kayla as primary muses. Looking forward to seeing you on the road, Tom
Song Info
Charts
Peak #37
Peak in subgenre #8
Author
Tom Neilson
Rights
2004
Uploaded
June 13, 2017
Track Files
MP3
MP3 4.3 MB 128 kbps 4:39
Story behind the song
This song is about where I grew up in the community of Sand Hill in upstate NY. It is perhaps the story of all farming communities in the US. It is dedicated to the farmers who had a hand in my growing up process; whose cows I milked, manure I shoveled, and hay I threw.
Lyrics
Four o'clock in the afternoon, the border collies call. Martin's on his John Deere, Monty's yelling his cabosse. Barn doors open up for Holsteins, each one knows her place, Catch a tail with dry manure whisk across your face. Music on the radio plays a country tune In rhythm with the milking machines & sweeping with a broom. We put in hay til midnight so we could beat the rain. This farm is family, don't know no other name. Then the government told us to get big or get out. But Butz & Nixon got no clue what farming's all about. Wall Street brokers raise the interest rates to make some dough Banker with our mortgages counting what we owe. I watch our fields go 4 lane highways & mobile homes The kids don't see no future & they're gone before they're grown. Can't imagine what the cost; How to measure what we've lost. When our fields go to 4 lane highways & mobile homes. They brought the bulk tank & the corporation truck And 1 by 1 the creameries in all the towns dried up. The GLF, Esso station, & the general store And the D&H, haulin' freight, don't stop here anymore. I watch our fields go 4 lane highways & mobile homes The kids don't see no future & they're gone before they're grown. Can't imagine what the cost; How to measure what we've lost. When our fields go to 4 lane highways & mobile homes. The swimming hole at Lover's Lane where we used to go To take a dip, for hanging out or watch a campfire's glow, Has posted signs in our face, don't these people know How to live in a place & not shut off the flow. Don't let our fields go 4 lane highways & mobile homes Parking lots & fast food spots & another banker's loan. Can't imagine what the cost, How to measure what we've lost. When our fields go to 4 lane highways & mobile homes. Late shift at the factory can run a farmer down. Cause milking cows & growing crops is full time all around. Working hard to build a home is what these farming folk have known Till you find them in the Sand Hill cemetery ground. Don't let our fields go 4 lane highways & mobile homes Shopping malls, can we stop the wall from taking what we own? Can't imagine what the cost. How to measure what we've lost. When our fields go to 4 lane highways & mobile homes.
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