Farmer Is the Man, The

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
AUTHOR: Knowles Shaw (source: original music)
EARLIEST DATE: 1874 (see NOTES)
KEYWORDS: farming work poverty commerce money
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MW)
REFERENCES (13 citations):
Randolph 492, "The Farmer, He Must Feed Them All" (1 text)
Sandburg-TheAmericanSongbag, pp. 282-283, "The Farmer" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scott-TheBalladOfAmerica, pp. 267-269, "The Farmer is the Man" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FolkSongsOfNorthAmerica 66, "The Farmer is the Man" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-TreasuryOfAmericanFolklore, pp. 879-880, "The Farmer Comes to Town" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lingenfelter/Dwyer/Cohen-SongsOfAmericanWest, p. 485, "The Farmer" (1 text, 1 tune)
Arnett-IHearAmericaSinging, pp. 120-121, "The Farmer Is the Man" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NewAmericanSongster, pp. 360-361, "The Farmer Is the Man" (1 text)
Seeger-AmericanFavoriteBallads, p. 57, "The Farmer Is The Man" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenway-AmericanFolksongsOfProtest, p. 213, "The Farmer Is the Man" (1 text)
Silber/Silber-FolksingersWordbook, p. 118, "The Farmer Is The Man" (1 text)
DT, FARMERIS*
ADDITIONAL: James L. Orr, editor, _Grange Melodies_, National Grange of Patrons of Husbandry (Philadelphia, 1891) (available on Google Books), pp. 193-194, "The Farmer Feeds Us All" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #5062
RECORDINGS:
Acie Cargill and Kristina Olsen, "The Farmer Feeds Us All" (on HCargillFamily)
Fiddlin' John Carson, "The Farmer is the Man Who Feeds Them All" (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)
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)
cf. "The Farmer's Alliance" (lyrics)
SAME TUNE:
Taxes on the Farmer Feeds Us All (Fiddlin' John Carlson, Bluebird B-5742, 1934/Montgomery Ward M-4849, c. 1935) (New Lost City Ramblers, on NLCR09)
NOTES [278 words]: Although there is no firm authorship information, this song is thought to date from the populist movement of the 1890s. - (PJS)
"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
I've adjusted what Paul did; "Taxes..." is filed here, but as a Same Tune entry
Although this certainly sounds like a Populist song, it can be shown to be earlier -- one suspects it came out of the Grange movement. At minimum, it was known to them, as Grange Melodies shows.
This original version was known as "The Farmer Feeds Us All." It is interesting that effectively no one remembers it by this title. Also, the modern versions have been extremely heavily rewritten, even though the form is the same. E.g. the second verse runs
There's the President who occupies the chair
Of the nation in the mighty Congress hall.
And the members, too, are great, who are sent from ev'ry state
But the farmer is the man that feeds them all.
(Chorus:) Then take him by the hand,
All ye people of the land,
Stand by him whatever troubles may be fall.
We may say whate'er we can, Yet the farmer is the man,
Yes, the farmer is the man that feeds us all.
Although Malcolm Douglas claimed to have seen an 1874 copy, Jim Dixon was unable to verify this. However, Dixon was able to find three advertisements for it on other pieces of 1874 music, so that date is firm. Two of the pieces were published by F. A. North, "Francis Polka/Mazurka" and "Harriet Polka," both by Carl Thorbahn; and one published by H. S. Mackie, "Light Infantry March" by J. F. H. Blois. All are available on Google Books. - RBW
Last updated in version 7.0
File: San282

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