The Hayseeder's Lament
Written by W. T. Daffron, my grandfather, of Millport Alabama, probably in 1932. It was the height of the Great Depression. The Hayseeder’s Lament What do you think About the gink And all this high-brow clan Who congregate And advocate Bankhead’s reduction plan We raise our cotton For markets rotten We freely will admit But it’s a fact This Bankhead Act Don’t help a doggon bit We plant the seed And tend the weed Side dress with guano We plow and hoe Keep on the go No rest so help us Hannah We work and sweat Just fume and fret And worry every day Haul it to town And with a frown Give half the stuff away We have to sign On dotted line At every turn we make Then buy permits And send remits With that we can rake We pay the ginner The real winner In this old game of chance His biz is brisk He takes no risk Your see that at a glance We count our dough And hope to go Right out and buy a shirt
