The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
Scarecrow on a wooden cross blackbird in the barn
Four hundred empty acres that used to be my farm
I grew up like my daddy did my grandpa cleared this land
When I was five I walked the fence while grandpa held my hand
[Chorus]
Rain on the scarecrow blood on the plow
This land fed a nation this land made me proud
And son I'm just sorry theres no legacy for you now
Rain on the scarecrow blood on the plow
Rain on the scarecrow blood on the plow
The crops we grew last summer weren't enough to pay the loans
Couldn't buy the seed to plant this spring and the farmers bank foreclosed
Called my old friend schepman up to auction off the land
He said john its just my job and I hope you understand
Hey calling it your job ol hoss sure dont make it right
But if you want me to Ill say a prayer for your soul tonight
And grandmas on the front porch swing with a
Bible in her hand Sometimes I hear her singing take me to the promised land
When you take away a mans dignity he cant work his fields and cows
There'll be blood on the scarecrow blood on the plow
Blood on the scarecrow blood on the plow
Well there's ninety-seven crosses planted in the courthouse yard
Ninety-seven families who lost ninety-seven farms
I think about my grandpa and my neighbors and my name and some nights
I feel like dying like that scarecrow in the rain
[Chorus]
Rain on the scarecrow blood on the plow
This land fed a nation this land made me so proud
And son I'm just sorry they're just memories for you now
Rain on the scarecrow blood on the plow
Rain on the scarecrow blood on the plow
Four hundred empty acres that used to be my farm
I grew up like my daddy did my grandpa cleared this land
When I was five I walked the fence while grandpa held my hand
[Chorus]
Rain on the scarecrow blood on the plow
This land fed a nation this land made me proud
And son I'm just sorry theres no legacy for you now
Rain on the scarecrow blood on the plow
Rain on the scarecrow blood on the plow
The crops we grew last summer weren't enough to pay the loans
Couldn't buy the seed to plant this spring and the farmers bank foreclosed
Called my old friend schepman up to auction off the land
He said john its just my job and I hope you understand
Hey calling it your job ol hoss sure dont make it right
But if you want me to Ill say a prayer for your soul tonight
And grandmas on the front porch swing with a
Bible in her hand Sometimes I hear her singing take me to the promised land
When you take away a mans dignity he cant work his fields and cows
There'll be blood on the scarecrow blood on the plow
Blood on the scarecrow blood on the plow
Well there's ninety-seven crosses planted in the courthouse yard
Ninety-seven families who lost ninety-seven farms
I think about my grandpa and my neighbors and my name and some nights
I feel like dying like that scarecrow in the rain
[Chorus]
Rain on the scarecrow blood on the plow
This land fed a nation this land made me so proud
And son I'm just sorry they're just memories for you now
Rain on the scarecrow blood on the plow
Rain on the scarecrow blood on the plow
Lyrics submitted by SoBrokenHearted
Rain on the Scarecrow Lyrics as written by George Michael Green George Green
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
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Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
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I think the rain on the scarecrow and the blood on the plow is just a metaphor of how the farm is ruined and he cannot create the experiences he lived through when he was younger for his own kid. Rain and blood are often used to symbolize the breakdown or death of something. And obviously a scarecrow and a plow are easily recognizable objects that any person can associate with a farm even if they have never lived on a farm. John is trying to relate his father-son story in a way that every listener of every background can understand.
I also find it interesting that there are a lot of religious references like "wooden cross", "Bible in her hand", and "'Take me to the Promised Land". Overall, I think this song encorporates the feeling of helplessness and guilt for not being able to let his son experience some great parts of life the way he did when he was a child. Sad but great song. Beautifully written.
If you're curious as to what the lyrics to this song mean, you need look no further than the vanishing family farms across the United States. This has happened due to any number of factors, including demand for cheap food (driven by falling wages since the 1970s), government subsidies for big agribusiness that fuel factory farming as opposed to traditional family farms, and general apathy amongst the American people. We don't make enough money anymore to afford to shop anywhere but Wal-Mart, unless you're in the upper classes, and people wear this fact like a badge of honor. It's become a point of pride amongst the working class to eschew buying anything from any source other than Wal-Mart, because those who make enough money to avoid it aren't connected to the working class. That's true, but it also kills local businesses and family farms.
Family farms have to charge more for their crops than big agribusiness due to the economy of scale. If you grow 10,000 acres of peas, for instance, you can afford to sell them at, let's say, $0.50 per pound and still make a profit. A family farmer can't grow 10,000 acres of peas because he or she needs that land to grow other crops and also to graze animals. So the family farmer can only grow 5 acres of peas, which need to sell for, let's say, $2.00 per pound just to buy seed for next year and keep the farm going.
When people make less than subsistence wages, and we all have since at least the late 70's or so, regardless of how we perceive it, we can't afford real food. We rely on factory farmed, genetically engineered, hormone-treated stuff. This is, incidentally, the status quo advocated by so-called conservative politicians. How conservative is it to advocate for big agribusiness at the expense of family farms and living wages?
@madman8199 - people need to understand that capitalism is like a virus. It follows very simple rules and has no moral agency. The virus that sickens and kills you has nothing against you personally, it is too simple for that. It is just following the logic of viruses - "hijack cells and use them to reproduce".<br /> <br /> Similarly capitalism follows the logic of "reduce the cost of inputs". The fact that this causes people to suffer is irrelevant to the decision making process. If you work for PepsiCo you'd be insane to spend a cent more on, say, corn than you absolutely have to because all of your competitors are buying as cheaply as they possibly can and everyone is working with razor-thin profit margins.<br /> <br /> We have shackled ourselves to a system that treats us like livestock an we wonder why so many people are suffering.
i'm really surprised i'm the first to comment on this song.. I love this song, its just an all around good song.
Its pretty obvious what this song is about, its about john, or maybe just someone in general losing there family land that had been passed down from generation to generation to the bank, cause the man couldn't pay his loans to the bank, and now his son wont enjoy the land and heiritage that he enjoyed. All in all it really is a sad song. I dont quite get the metaphor in the chorus "rain on the scarecrow blood on the plow, if anyone cares to help me out, itd be nice.
Hello...Like you, I love this song. I wanted to offer you my opinion as to what the line "rain on the scarecrow, blood on the plow" means. The song is about farms failing and being foreclosed. Beneath it all there is a question, namely, why have they failed? I think this line addresses that. It isn't because of drought or an act of God (there is, after all, rain on the scarecrow), and it isn't due to a lack of work ethic on the part of the farmers. The blood on the plow refers to an old farming ideal wherein people often were said to have "bled" for their land. Have you ever heard someone say, "I have put my blood, sweat and tears" into something for which they have worked very hard. Anyway, that is just my opinion. I think the line is intended to place the blame for the loss of these farms squarely on the banks and politicians.
I found the CD single to this in a throw-out bin about 3 years after it came out.
I used to dance around my room with it pumped both when I was at school & Uni. Always used to play it before a night out when I just turned 18 & was at college.
One of John's most passionate songs if you ask me, a fine job.
The song's meaning is pretty obvious, but his vocal delivery and the ominous chords leading into the chorus are almost haunting, and secure this little number as a classic.
This is related to the midwest farm crisis of the 1980s. See this article for detailed info: eightiesclub.tripod.com/id395.htm.
Cute user name. The farm crisis was anything but cute. I watched it up close and live with weekend auctions and crying farm families. With that said, farmers were being paid not to grow crops and there was a great deal of loan abuse. Those who had strong farms and knew how to manage a business made it. Those who didn't, lost everything. The banks were not the only ones to blame, but it was definitely a sad time in the midwest.
Devastating! What more do I have to say about this Classic Mellencamp Rocker? You don't have to analyze John's Sad Farmer's Lament Rain on the Scarecrow-it's just there. Fervently and passionately sung and beautifully written, Rain on the Scarecrow is the absolute best Classic Rock song of the Eighties. In 1985, every other news story that Tom Brokaw, Dan Rather and Peter Jennings-Rock in Peace!-reported on was about the demise and struggle of the American Farmer! All the pictures on TV that I saw and had seen from Indiana to Tennessee right back up to Maryland-where I still live-affected me deeply. I commend and thank John Mellencamp for writing Rain on the Scarecrow-From Reagan to Obama, everything numbingly looks the same!-The backbone of America has been broken for good! I do not like what America has become because its leaders and politicians do absolutely nothing to help out matters but as long as Classic Rock is alive, Rain on the Scarecrow will continue to be sung to anyone who needs a helping hand in American Life. To my favorite Tabby Cat John Mellencamp-I Say Rock Hard and Meow!
This is about financial difficulties farmers in the Midwest US face; difficulties that can go as far as having their farms repossessed by banks. Mellencamp has taken an active role in helping American farmers. Along with Neil Young and Willie Nelson, he regularly plays at the Farm-Aid concerts to help raise money. (songfacts.com)
I knew a lot of people at school whose parents were losing their farms due to drought when I first heard this song in the 90s.
Though our family farm was sold, not lost, it still was very like our family. Dad, his father & grandfather all grew up on the property, but sadly I couldn’t enjoy my childhood there, as much as I desperately wanted to. Troy, QLD Australia.
If you want to know what this song is about watch the video youtube.com/watch
the opening excerpt pretty much sums it up, politicians want more food for less money so why should I work twelve hours a day to barely break even?? Governments have axed the agricultural industry by raising the price of quota (licensing for milk resale) so that it literally takes a millionaire to start a decent farming operation, and the salt of the earth farmers that have been around for generations would rather sell off their quota, cows, and equipment to cash in for retirement then break even for profit. It's kind of like the government saying to the Bourgeoisie "alright you've made enough money, now sit on it" only for them to take the farming responsibility into corporate more profiteable and mass producing hands. The blood on the plow is the axing of hundreds of hard working families that thought they earned nobility enough to pass on their operations to their young but strong independent families and people for that matter are not valued in this country anymore they are frowned upon by the elite. They are not profiteable enough, and thats what it all comes down to. A longstanding culture of hard work and pride murdered. You should also watch this documentary "Seeds of Change" to understand the impact pushy peckers like Monsanto have on what few farms are left. seedsofchangefilm.org/