Raining Gravel

The government man said, «The rain follows the plow,»
So we busted up the sod and planted wheat
The price of grain was high that year and some of us got rich
But the drought started to show in ‘33
We were barely surviving but the livestock all was dying
Their bodies were just filling up with dust
But what was almost beyond bearing was the government not caring
When the banks across our county all went bust
The sky was raining gravel and the wind was whistling coal
The mercury said 17 below
And like the judge’s gavel God gave us the Dust Bowl
There was no way you could fix the spring of ‘36
The dusters blew most every other day
The cars all shorted out from the static in the clouds
We really had no way of getting out
The roadside signs will warn you, there’s no work in California
«Okies are not welcome! Stay away!»
And the cowboys drinking at the store, remembering the days before
Said the sodbusters like us were all to blame
For the sky raining gravel and the wind just whistling coal
The mercury went 17 below
And like the judge’s gavel God gave us the Dust Bowl