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Growing Trade Lyrics
I worked the land to raise a family
Til I was weary to the bone
But hard labour never bothered me
Lord it's all I've ever known.
Too many seasons of calamity
And too much interest on the loan
I'm half the size that I used to be
And half of that is stone.
The crops ain't worth the seeding
10 will only get you 5
The livestock I'ma feedin'
I can hardly keep 'em alive
I gotta do what I can to survive
I know the law won't be forgiving
But that'll be the choice I made
I used to farm for a living
And now I'm in the growing trade.
The summer beauty of the cotton field
Was like a view from Heaven's door
My Granddaddy said that harvest time
Was what the good Lord made us for
I guess he'd wonder where's the dignity
In a crop you raise to burn
But this land is my legacy
I got nowhere else to turn.
Shotgun on my shoulder
Where a tote sack oughta be
The thieves are getting bolder
And the feds may be watchin' me
I gotta quit this eventually
I know the law won't be forgiving
But that'll be the choice I made
I used to farm for a living
But now I'm in the growing trade.
Helicopters in the distance
Coming closer everyday
They're gonna meet some resistance
Ain't no price I wouldn't pay
There won't be any difference
When they take it all away
Between a cot in the jail house
And a bed beneath the clay
I guess there's nothing to do now but pray
I know the law won't be forgiving
But that'll be the choice I made
I used to farm for a living
And now I'm in the growing trade
Til I was weary to the bone
But hard labour never bothered me
Lord it's all I've ever known.
And too much interest on the loan
I'm half the size that I used to be
And half of that is stone.
10 will only get you 5
The livestock I'ma feedin'
I can hardly keep 'em alive
I gotta do what I can to survive
I know the law won't be forgiving
But that'll be the choice I made
I used to farm for a living
And now I'm in the growing trade.
Was like a view from Heaven's door
My Granddaddy said that harvest time
Was what the good Lord made us for
I guess he'd wonder where's the dignity
In a crop you raise to burn
But this land is my legacy
I got nowhere else to turn.
Where a tote sack oughta be
The thieves are getting bolder
And the feds may be watchin' me
I gotta quit this eventually
I know the law won't be forgiving
But that'll be the choice I made
I used to farm for a living
But now I'm in the growing trade.
Coming closer everyday
They're gonna meet some resistance
Ain't no price I wouldn't pay
There won't be any difference
When they take it all away
Between a cot in the jail house
And a bed beneath the clay
I guess there's nothing to do now but pray
I know the law won't be forgiving
But that'll be the choice I made
I used to farm for a living
And now I'm in the growing trade
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Am I the only one who thinks this song is about growing dope? After years of hard times, this farmer realizes he can only make it by augmenting his crop selection with a more profitable grow. I see the lines "...I guess he'd wonder where's the dignity, In a crop you raise to burn", referring to marijuana as being raised to burn. And feds circling with helicopters sort of is self explanatory. Just my hunches...
Back in the 1980's, the Crop Insurance Act was passed into law in the US. Ever since then, outlaw farmers have realized that a great way to make money is to take out a federally subsidized insurance policy against a crop that isn't grown yet, and then start a "wildfire" in the crops that destroys the entire harvest. They get to keep their guaranteed money from the government without having to produce any crops. However, if they're caught doing this, severe jail time, land seizure, and paying back all of the money they essentially stole is all that waits for them. Hence the lines "And the feds may be watchin' me, I gotta quit this eventually" and "Helicopters in the distance, Coming closer everyday." There's also obvious concern, but the speaker also knows that his mind is made up to do what he does, and hence he carries a shotgun on his shoulder. He'd rather commit suicide by cop than lose his land out from underneath his family.
@Lakonthegreat so he’s got a shotgun to protect the crop he did not grow from thieves? \r\n\r\nThe lyrics in the chorus also don’t make sense with that explanation. \r\n\r\nHe’d still be a farmer insurance fraud or not.\r\n\r\nThis ain’t itZ
@Lakonthegreat so he’s got a shotgun to protect the crop he did not grow from thieves? \r\n\r\nThe lyrics in the chorus also don’t make sense with that explanation. \r\n\r\nHe’d still be a farmer insurance fraud or not.\r\n\r\nThis ain’t itZ