Down on Penny’s Farm

Come you ladies and you gentlemen and listen to my song
I'll sing it to you right, but you might think it's wrong
May make you mad but I mean no harm
It's just about the renters on Penny's farm

It's hard times in the country
Out on Penny's farm

Now you move out on Penny's farm
Plant a little crop of 'bacco and a little crop of corn
He'll come around to see, gonna plan and plot
Till he gets himself a mortgage on everything you got

It's hard times in the country
Out on Penny's farm

Hasn't George Penny got a flattering mouth
Move you to the country in a little log house
Got no windows but cracks in the wall
He'll work you all summer and rob you in the fall

It's hard times in the country
Out on Penny's farm

You go in the fields and you work all day
Way into the night but you get no pay
Promise you meat or a little lard
It's hard to be a renter on Penny's farm

It's hard times in the country
Out on Penny's farm

Now here's George Penny come into town
With his wagon-load of peaches, not one of them sound
He's got to have his money or somebody's check
You pay him for a bushel and you don't get a peck

It's hard times in the country
Out on Penny's farm

Then George Penny's renters, they come into town
With their hands in their pockets and their heads hanging down
Go in the store and the merchant will say
Your mortgage is due and I'm looking for my pay

It's hard times in the country
Out on Penny's farm

Down in his pocket with a trembling hand
Can't pay you all but I'll pay you what I can
Then to the telephone the merchant makes a call
They'll put you on the chain gang if you don't pay it all

It's hard times in the country
Out on Penny's farm