Melloncamp

Rain On The Scarecrow
John Cougar Mellencamp

Scarecrow on a wooden cross Blackbird in the barn
Four hundred empty acres that used to be my farm
I grew up like my daddy did My grandpa cleared this land
When I was five I walked the fence while grandpa held my hand
Rain on the scarecrow Blood on the plow
This land fed a nation This land made me proud
And Son I'm just sorry there's no legacy for you now
Rain on the scarecrow Blood on the plow
Rain on the scarecrow Blood on the plow
The crops we grew last summer weren't enough to pay the loans
Couldn't buy the seed to plant this spring and the Farmers Bank foreclosed
Called my old friend Schepman up to auction off the land
He said John it's just my job and I hope you understand
Hey calling it your job ol' hoss sure don't make it right
But if you want me to I'll say a prayer for your soul tonight
And grandma's on the front porch swing with a Bible in her hand
Sometimes I hear her singing "Take me to the Promised Land"
When you take away a man's dignity he can't work his fields and cows
There'll be blood on the scarecrow Blood on the plow
Blood on the scarecrow Blood on the plow
Well there's ninety-seven crosses planted in the courthouse yard
Ninety-seven families who lost ninety-seven farms
I think about my grandpa and my neighbors and my name
And some nights I feel like dyin' Like that scarecrow in the rain
Rain on the scarecrow Blood on the plow
This land fed a nation This land made me proud
And Son I'm just sorry they're just memories for you now
Rain on the scarecrow Blood on the plow
Rain on the scarecrow Blood on the plow
Rain on the scarecrow Blood on the plow
This land fed a nation This land made me proud
And Son I'm just sorry they're just memories for you now
Rain on the scarecrow Blood on the plow
Rain on the scarecrow Blood on the plow

Melloncamp is not your typical hollywierdo, empty talking head like Sean Penn or Jane Fonda. Melloncamp actually lived and worked in the real world. He grew up in the farm country around Bloomington, Ind., and worked construction while writing songs on his own time. When a record label offered him a contract it was with the understanding that his performance name would be John Cougar. He resisted but had to go along. As he became successful he self hyphenated to Cougar-Melloncamp and was able to strike out with only his family name as success continued. John Melloncamp earned his position the hard, honest way. I don't often agree with his choice of candidates, but I agree with much of his down to earth, American patriotism. "Scarecrow" came about as a result of the farm crises of the 1980's. When corporate agriculture, (ADM, Conagra, Monsanto, and others)manipulated the government to entice family farms to overextend themselves for the big Russian wheat deal and then watched as corporate's only competition, family farms, collapsed. If the farmers are bitter,it is understandable. Dairy farmers are paid the same for milk they produce now as for the milk they produced in 1980. You paid $2.16 for a gallon of milk in 1980 and you are paying $5.00 a gallon today. And the price difference goes where? We the people are going to have to wake up and take charge of our destiny or we will not have a destiny worth living.