Artist: joe ely
Song: all that you need
I've been workin' on the farm, just me and my brother Jack
Choppin' a sea of cotton till I thought I'd break my back
Everything changed when my daddy got hurt
Our lives were so connected to that brown ol' flatland dirt
When the government man from Austin
Come sniffin' around our land
Askin' a bunch of questions that we did not understand
There's more to farmin' cotton than just tendin' to your seed
The ones who set the policy don't give a damn about our needs
Sow the seed in the ground below
Fall to your knees and pray real slow
That the rain will come and kiss the seed
And bless you with all that you need
Well, mama says to Jackie, would she bring the car around?
She's wearin' her finest dress
That's how I know she's goin' to town
I wish, I'd never seen that letter that I found there in her room
They're sellin' the farm on the courthouse step
This Saturday afternoon
Well, me and Jack moved into town to a shack by the train depot
Jack got a job as a bouncer at a bar on Paradise Row
Mama got a job in the cotton gin, grading cotton by the bale
She cried when a trailer full of cotton come in
From the farm we had to sell
Sow the seed in the ground below
Fall to your knees and pray real slow
That the rain will come and kiss the seed
And bless you with all that you need
Me, I ended up in jail, sick of livin' on welfare
And the hardest thing ever happened to me
Is when mama come to visit me there
"Don't you worry your pretty little head"
I said, as I buttoned my shirt
"When I get out of this Iron Hotel
I'm goin' back to that dry land dirt"
For some, it's just a livin' but for us it's our whole life
If it kills me, I'm gonna rake that dirt
And make a livin' out of toil and strife
The ways of the cities makes no sense, strapped to dependency
I'd rather be sweatin' 'neath a clear blue sky
Plantin' cotton with my family
Sow the seed in the ground below
Fall to your knees and pray real slow
That the rain will come and kiss the seed
And bless you with all that you need
Sow the seed in the ground below
Fall to your knees and pray real slow
That the rain will come and kiss the seed
And bless you with all that you need
