“Down on Penny’s Farm” Sheet Music (pdf).
“Down on Penny’s Farm” Karaoke (midi with lyrics).
Lyrics: Anonymous.
Tune: Anonymous.
Come you ladies and you gentlemen and listen to my song;
I’ll sing it to you right, but you might think it wrong;
May make you mad, but I mean no harm;
It’s all about the renters on Penny’s farm.
It’s hard times in the country, down 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 plan and plot
Till he gets himself a mortgage on ev’rything you’ve got.
It’s hard times in the country, down on Penny’s farm.
You go to the fields, and you work all day
Till way after dark, 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, down on Penny’s farm.
Now here’s George Penny come into town
With a 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, down 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, down on Penny’s farm.
Goes down into 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, down on Penny’s farm.