Song Lyrics

FARMERS DAUGHTER

Written and arranged by Ellen Harper, June 24th 2009

 (G modal tuning on banjo) 

 

 

My daddy is a farmer

That makes me the farmer’s daughter

But it’s no joke we’re always broke

Can’t live on dirt and water

Can’t live on dirt and water.

 

We can’t plant and we can’t grow

We can’t reap and we can’t sew

Don’t own the seed can’t plant our rows

It all belongs to Monsanto

All belongs to Monsanto.

 

Dupont, Dow and Monsanto

We are what we eat

They own the pollen own the seeds

Own us from head to feet

Own the air we breath.

 

Sister shed her overalls

put on heels and skirt

City bound she fled the ground

To strike her own pay dirt

Strike her own pay dirt

 

My brother donned a uniform

To keep us safe from harm

But terror is as terror does

The bank foreclosed our farm

Foreclosed the family farm.

 

Jesse James he robbed the banks

They shot that boy to death

Now the banks are robbing us

Til’ we got nothing left, we got nothing left,

We got nothing left.

 

 

Hearts on the Line 

Written and arranged by Ellen Harper, 2011     

 

You were black I was white.

You weren’t African American yet

The times were a-changing it was real

But it wasn’t love at first sight  

Nobody thought it was right

 

This was back before Benneton

When Loving versed the law*

We were a sign of the times

Then I looked at you and you looked at me

We put our hearts on the line

                                     

Hearts on the line, yours and mine

We were a sign of the times, you and I

 

Oh what a couple we caught everyone’s eye

We were judged and scrutinized

We took a stand against the laws of the land

We kept our eyes on the prize

 

Eyes on the prize, yours and mine

We were ahead of our time, you and I

 

All we wanted like everyone does

Is to love and be loved in return

But the course of love never runs smooth

That’s the lesson we learned

A hard lesson to earn

 

It wasn’t easy it never is

Trying to get by

We were just lovers not symbols not others

Decided to share our lives,

 

Share our lives, yours and mine

We were ahead of our time, you and I

 

*Richard and Mildred Loving Verses the State of Virginia. Landmark Civil Rights case, 1967.   

 

 

Song Lyrics