“The Farmer Is the Man”

Description

A description of the life of the farmer, "the man who feeds them all." He comes to town "with his wagon broken down" and "lives on credit till the fall." At last he comes to town with his crop -- and loses the profit to the bank

Notes

Although there is no firm authorship information, this song is thought to date from the populist movement of the 1890s. - (PJS)

Sounds logical to me. Greenway, however, dates it to the period after the Civil War. - RBW

"Taxes on the Farmer Feeds Us All" is a variant form of "Farmer is the Man"; the message and words are close enough that I have lumped them as one song. - PJS

Same tune

• Fiddlin' John Carson, "Taxes on the Farmer Feeds Us All" (Montgomery Ward M-4848, 1935)
• New Lost City Ramblers, "Taxes on the Farmer Feeds Us All" (on NLCR09)

Cross references

• cf. "Down on the Farm (III)" (theme)
• cf. "The Humble Farmer" (theme)
• cf. "The Laddie That Handles the Ploo" (theme)
• cf. "The Praise of Ploughmen" (theme)

Recordings

• Fiddlin' John Carson, "The Farmer Is The Man That Feeds Them" (Okeh 40071, 1924; rec. 1923)
• Frank Wheeler & Monroe Lamb, "The Farmer Feeds Them All" (Victor 23537, 1931; Montgomery Ward M-4334, 1933)
• Pete Seeger, "The Farmer is the Man" (on PeteSeeger13) (on PeteSeeger23)

References

1. Randolph 492, "The Farmer, He Must Feed Them All" (1 text)
2. Sandburg, pp. 282-283, "The Farmer" (1 text, 1 tune)
3. Scott-BoA, pp. 267-269, "The Farmer is the Man" (1 text, 1 tune)
4. Lomax-FSNA 66, "The Farmer is the Man" (1 text, 1 tune)
5. Botkin-AmFolklr, pp. 879-880, "The Farmer Comes to Town" (1 text, 1 tune)
6. Arnett, pp. 120-121, "The Farmer Is the Man" (1 text, 1 tune)
7. Darling-NAS, pp. 360-361, "The Farmer Is the Man" (1 text)
8. PSeeger-AFB, p. 57, "The Farmer Is The Man" (1 text, 1 tune)
9. Greenway-AFP, p. 213, "The Farmer Is the Man" (1 text)
10. Silber-FSWB, p. 118, "The Farmer Is The Man" (1 text)
11. DT, FARMERIS*
12. Roud #5062
13. BI, San282