Take 'Em Away

One of the cool things about this song is that it's vague enough that it could be either a poor white farmer or a black slave or sharecropper. It applies to all the beaten-down Southern workers.

Land that I know is where two rivers collide The Brazos, the Navasota and the big blue sky Flood plains, freight trains and watermelon vines If anywhere on God's green earth This is where I choose to die

-So powerful makes me want to fucking head down south to the land of the pine

One of my favorites. Another religious hymnal country hybrid. This is like Blues. I love the sadness of this song. If god doesn't exist. Then your wasting your time in thinking someone else will take care of your problems. a

If anyone asks you, "You don;t look so good whats wrong?" Just say "My heart is broken 'cause my spirit's not free Lord, take away these chains from me" And they will never speak to you again because your so deep

Jk. The chains are just responsibilities that are not of his free will.

There's a boss man at the turn in the road with a rifle in his hand (If he wanted to quit his job theres a boss ready to use force at the "turn in road. He wants to "make a turn in road" (change his current direction) But unfortunately dude with rifle is right there. I think some people feel they must to do their jobs just to keep so while the rifle is too much it makes the point that we reallyfeel forced to work rather than liberated to work with passion.

BAsically poor guy has to work his whole life in a beautiful land but can't enjoy it as much because he has no money, no wife, 9 kids and mounting debt. Add to that he's working to exhaustion

I imagine a dude who is like 55 looks 65 (retirement)

Possible themes: retirement, labor, American Dream gone bad (debt, no money, too many kids, wife died, work sucks)

I also see this as a country spiritual hybrid with a bit of protest song thrown in to boot. For me this song is special because I grew up in North Central Texas and the Brazos river is a constant mental landmark to my early years. It was a summer ritual to get beer and rent tubes to "float the Brazos" in high school. Also I did my undergrad at Texas A&M, very close to where the Brazos and Navasota rivers converge. The land there is truly beautiful. Since the dorms were strict, my friends and I have many memories in driving around the flood plains in my Jeep smoking marijuana. Just wanted to share what the song brought out of my memory. I also think it speaks to the debt cycle of farmers in a "Grapes of Wrath" "Woody Guthrie" kind of way.

Your ? in the third verse should read: Every year I just keep gettin deeper in debt

I like how the British spelling of plow is used...seems to fit the song well.

"Land that I know is where two rivers collide The Brazos the Navaho and the big blue sky Flood plains, freight trains, watermelon vines Of any place on God's green earth, this is where I choose to die"

So only a mile or so from where these rivers meet is the Luther Unit, a prison maintained by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Prisoners there work on an 11,000 acre farm while they are incarcerated. This song is clearly sung from the perspective of a prisoner working on that unit, which is also why it makes reference to "a boss man at a turnrow with a rifle in his hand"

this song reminds me of living out in the country, playing wit my friend and fishing. i feel the pain of these metophorical chains, but they feel so real to real.

the land i know to rivers collide the brahzos the navhos the big blue sky flood plains freight trains watermelon vines of all of gods green earth this were i choose to die

these lyrics are really beautiful lyrics and yet so sad

the old crow medice show always have good songs that make me feel at home and something i can relate to

This song to me (I may be imparting my own lived experience into it) is about a farmer who is being pulled apart by two worlds. he desperately loves his land at a visceral level where he is incapable of leaving it, no matter the consequences of it. weather it mean that his family has to go hungry, he has to do horrible jobs, even his wife either dies or metaphorically dies from his neglect. He is begging the lord to take away the chains of his binding to the land. In the end he comes to term with the fact that he can not make this break and is willing to die there.