(By Knowles Shaw. Based on the text in B. A. Botkin’s A Treasury of American Folklore)

Recording by Curtis & Loretta: 

When the farmer comes to town with his wagon broken down,
The farmer is the man who feeds them all.
If you’ll only look and see, I am sure you will agree,
he farmer is the man who feeds them all.
The farmer is the man, the farmer is the man,
Lives on credit till the fall,
Then they take him by the hand
And they lead him from the land
And the middleman’s the man who gets it all.

When the lawyer hangs around while the butcher cuts a pound,
The farmer is the man who feeds them all.
And the preacher and the cook go a-strolling by the brook,
The farmer is the man who feeds them all.
The farmer is the man, the farmer is the man,
Lives on credit till the fall;
With the interest rate so high, It’s a wonder he don’t die,
For the mortgage man’s the man who gets it all.

When the banker says he’s broke, and the merchant’s up in smoke,
They forget that it’s the farmer feeds them all.
It would put them to the test if the farmer took a rest
They’d know that it’s the farmer feeds them all.
The farmer is the man, the farmer is the man,
Lives on credit till the fall;
His pants are wearing thin, His condition, it’s a sin;
He’s forgot that he’s the man who feeds them all.