Join us each month in song!
Since 2016—our designated Year of Song—CDSS has featured a traditional song each month. Lorraine Hammond spearheaded this effort, and it was such a popular feature that Judy Cook volunteered to continue the tradition in 2017 and beyond.
Note: Many of these old songs should be looked at as “fairy tales for adults” in that they often address very strong, and sometimes scary, subject matter. They allow us to deal with difficult situations and emotions with the distance afforded by putting it in a song. They are cautionary tales, and had their use as such.
This month’s song:
June 2023: The Lazy Farmer
(Young Man Who Wouldn’t Hoe Corn)
Submitted by Lea Coryell
This traditional American folksong, perhaps originating in the Midwest, can be traced back to at least 1905. It’s been documented throughout the country, and many different versions exist. I love it because it works well for solo voice and drop-thumb banjo.
Did the young man fail because of laziness or bad weather? Traditional verses offer conflicting reasons, so perhaps we were meant to wonder. In my shortened version, the farmer has nothing and no one to blame but himself. You may choose to characterize it differently, so I include a longer version with fine traditional verses I chose to omit.
Listen to Lea performing “The Lazy Farmer.” Recording copyright Lea Coryell; used by permission.
Download the sheet music for “The Lazy Farmer.” Lyrics (as sung by Lea Coryell)
The banjo is in modal tuning, capo 4 (bF#BEF#)
I’ll sing you a song it’s not very long
About a lazy farmer wouldn’t hoe his corn
The reason he wouldn’t I cannot tell
That young man was always well
That young man was always wellHe went to the field and he looked therein
The jimson weeds were up to his chin
The bushes and the grasses had grown so high
Enough to make that young man cry
Enough to make that young man cryHe went down to his neighbor’s door
Where he had often been before
Sayin’ “Pretty little miss will you marry me?
Pretty little miss now what you say?
Pretty little miss now what you say?”“Oh why do you come to me to wed
When you can’t even raise your own cornbread?
Single I am and so I’ll remain
A lazy man I won’t maintain
A lazy man I won’t maintain“Now why don’t you go and court the widow
And I hope to the dickens that you don’t get her”
She give him the mitten just as sure as you’re born
And all because he wouldn’t hoe corn
All because he wouldn’t hoe corn
All because he wouldn’t hoe corn
All because he wouldn’t hoe cornLyrics (as sung by Tom Paley)
I’ll sing you a song it’s not very long
About a lazy farmer wouldn’t hoe his corn
The reason why I cannot tell
For that young man was always well
That young man was always wellHe planted his corn on June the last
In July it was up to his eye
But in September there came a great frost
And all that young man’s corn was lost
All that young man’s corn was lostHe went to the field and he looked therein
The bushes and the grass had grown so high
The bushes and the grass had grown so high
For to make that young man sigh
For to make that young man sighHis courtship had just begun
She said “Young man, have you hoed your corn?”
“I’ve tried, I’ve tried, I’ve tried in vain
But I don’t believe I’ll raise one grain
I don’t believe I’ll raise one grain”“Why do you come to me to wed
When you can’t even raise your own cornbread?
Single I am and I will remain
A lazy man I won’t maintain
A lazy man I won’t maintain“Now why don’t you try and court the widow
I hope to the devil that you don’t get her”
She give him the mitten as sure as you’re born
And all because he wouldn’t hoe his corn
All because he wouldn’t hoe cornNow his courtship was at an end
On his way he then began
Saying “Young miss, I’ll have another girl
If I have to ramble this whole wide world
If I have to ramble this whole wide world”He hung his head and he turned away
“Sometime, Miss, you’ll rue the day
You’ll rue the day that you were born
For givin’ me the devil cause I wouldn’t hoe corn
Givin’ me the devil cause I wouldn’t hoe corn”Lea Coryell, an Ohio native now living in Lovettsville, Virginia, began folk singing during the late 1970s. He is a retired librarian, a genealogist, and a founding member of the Reston-Herndon Folk Club in Virginia.
Past Songs
May 2023: We’re All Jolly Fellows that Follow the Plough
April 2023: Reynardine
March 2023: Free and Easy to Ramble Along
February 2023: The Rose in June
January 2023: Bed Is Too Small
December 2022: Jack Ashton
November 2022: Wild Mountain Thyme
October 2022: I’ve Lived in Service
September 2022: London Town
August 2022: Yuba Dam
July 2022: Bibble A La Do
June 2022: The Golden Willow Tree
May 2022: Ford o’ Kabul River
April 2022: Bold Riley
March 2022: The Foggy Dew
February 2022: Scarborough Settler’s Lament
January 2022: Tom o’Bedlam’s Song
December 2021: We Shepherds Be the Best of Men
November 2021: Catch Me If You Can
October 2021: Somebody’s Waiting for Me / Country Garden
September 2021: The Water Is Wide
August 2021: Springfield Mountain
July 2021: Shove the Grog Around (Shanty Song)
June 2021: The Cruel Mother
May 2021: Katie Catch
April 2021: A Pilgrim’s Way
March 2021: Glenlogie
February 2021: Sprig of Thyme
January 2021: Lord Bateman
December 2020: Brave Boys
November 2020: Abroad as I Was Walking
October 2020: The Dowie Dens o’ Yarrow
September 2020: The Setting of the Sun
August 2020: Annachie Gordon
July 2020: Stand Steady
June 2020: Braw Lads of Galla-water
May 2020: The Lincolnshire Poacher
April 2020: The Hills of Mexico
March 2020: I Saw Three Ships
February 2020: The Trooper and the Tailor
January 2020: Lost on the Lady Elgin
December 2019: Bright Phoebe
November 2019: Tickle Cove Pond
October 2019: I’m Going Back to North Carolina
September 2019: For the Company Underground
August 2019: The Maid of Sweet Gurteen
July 2019: Starving to Death on a Government Claim
June 2019: Annan Water
May 2019: The Shearin’s No’ For You
April 2019: Shady Grove
March 2019: Bedlam
February 2019: The Bonny Bunch of Roses
January 2019: Ambletown
December 2018: Throw Open Your Shutters
November 2018: The Wild Rover
October 2018: She’s Like the Swallow
September 2018: The Night Guard
August 2018: Here’s Adieu to All Judges and Juries
July 2018: Sailing
June 2018: Earl o’Bran
May 2018: Georgie
April 2018: A Sailor’s Life
March 2018: The Banks of Red Roses
February 2018: The Boy That Wore The Blue
January 2018: The Bay Of Biscay
December 2017: Song, Composed in August
November 2017: The Devil Buck
October 2017: Double Sledder Lad
September 2017: Sweet William’s Ghost
August 2017: Welcome Home My Sailor
July 2017: Drive Dull Care Away
June 2017: When I Went for to Take My Leave
May 2017: Bonnie Annie
April 2017: The Death of Bill Brown
March 2017: Money Is King
February 2017: Tha Sneachd’Air Druim Uachdair
January 2017: The January Man
December 2016: Lamb and Lion
November 2016: Farther On
October 2016: Skin and Bones
September 2016: Canaan’s Land
August 2016: Farmer’s Daughter
July 2016: Ladies Rejoice
June 2016: The Press Gang
May 2016: Dancing at Whitsun
April 2016: Spring
March 2016: The Bonnie Blue-Eyed Lassie
February 2016: Paper of Pins
January 2016: May It Fill Your Soul