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Farmer's Wake

by Fonta Flora

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1.
Farmer's Wake Part I 02:52
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I was born with a shovel in my hand I was half-grown when I became a man Now my seed’s sown, all across the land My seed is sown Now I’m old and I ain’t hardly able To go hold the horses in the stable Now I sing the songs from the fables Lord, I sing I don’t fear my death now that it’s near For I’ve know my lord for many years And how I’ve grown into a holy man Lord, I’ve grown So when I die, there ain’t no cause for woe Just take me down to the field where the wildflowers grow And plant me in my beloved loam Mmhmm
2.
Certain Kind of Man 04:08
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Poppa said come home boy Got fish cooking on the stove Momma cried herself to sleep last night Worrying about you It’s time to be a man Come home, get yourself a job I hate to disappoint you dad But I just ain’t no nine-to-five man That’s when he said to me You must have lost your mind Living under the city lights Has changed you my son Been working thirty years Daylight to dark So I ain’t asking for no businessman I want a real one It’s time for you to learn, Pa You ain’t the only one I was born on a farm just like you Raised up on poor man’s bread But that don’t make me no certain kind of man I’m gonna be my own I hate to disappoint you dad But I just ain’t your kind of man I hate to disappoint you dad But I just ain’t your kind of man
3.
Arlean 03:32
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Arlean, you’re the one I call my own Arlean, you’re the one I call my home I met you at the age of sixteen, running through the backwoods A black-haired beauty and a riverboat queen, honey you were made for me We took together right from the start, like a big fig bush in an old man’s yard By the time we knew what we was doing, it was far too late Arlean, you’re the one I call my own Arlean, you’re the one I call my home A few years later we was in the yard, holding hands in front the judge Your momma was crying those alligator tears, saying boy don’t you break her heart The first year was like heaven on earth, just a little bit better Then Bobby came and our world got bigger, more dangerous Arlean, you’re the one I call my own Arlean, you’re the one I call my home I can’t remember what my life was like before I met you Like a bird in a cage can’t recall the day, man, he first flew Lord knows you’re a hell of a woman, I’m a shell of a man But together we’ll go through the wind and snow to the promise land Arlean, you’re the one I call my own Arlean, you’re the one I call my home
4.
Lay Your Burdens Down 03:38
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Bud was a boy in the year of sixty-four When the new man came a-knocking, momma answered the front door She said, listen boy, this is your new daddy soon to be If you stick around a while, you’ll see Daddy came home later with a look in his eye He was acting kind of funny, had a gun upon his side He said, I’m the only goddamned daddy there’ll ever be And he went upstairs, and he murdered them all three Lay your burdens down, boy, lay your burdens down Cause family’s just a name and the devil’s all around Walk on down that line, boy, walk on down that line Cause when you get where you’re going boy, the sun is gonna shine A few years come and go, yeah, they disappear like time Young boy’s getting married on his fiancées father’s dime They get together in a little church down by the swamp And they say their vows and on a crystal glass they stomp The first year goes like heaven, but the second more like hell Bud takes after daddy, pushes his old lady down a well Then he runs off to Texas with a little whore named Tennessee And they lose their lives in a bar called Galilee Lay your burdens down, boy, lay your burdens down Cause family’s just a name and the devil’s all around Walk on down that line, boy, walk on down that line Cause when you get where you’re going boy, that sun ain’t gonna shine
5.
Lord 03:36
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Now lord, what do you call a man like me? And lord, I want to be holy can’t you see? Went down this morning to the river to bathe I came back with a wife all my own But the problem, you see, as I know it to be Is how can I keep her satisfied? Lord, I want to reap your reward Dine all night on my savior’s breast But lord I just don’t believe in the rest Well, I work all day just to keep her fed Keep her happy in the morning, keep her happy in the bed When I come home and go to sleep She whispers things, lord, they make me weep Lord, the devil’s lying in my bed Lord, the devil herself wants me dead The father, the son, and the holy ghost That holy ghost, lord, I love her the most Lay her down on a pallet on the ground I make her scream your name, dear lord Now lord, what do you call a man like me? And lord, I want to be holy can’t you see?
6.
Emancipation Blues 04:16
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Things wasn’t always as bad as they seem We fell in love at the age of sixteen I said, ho now But getting married so young, it ain’t always good That woman went to hell just as straight as she could I said, ho now And the one thing about my little honky-tonk bride She didn’t give a dam how hard I tried I said, ho now And a man can only take so much, you see Before his heart turns cold as a dogwood tree I said, ho now I said ho, now Well, she came home late in the middle of the night And the dog started barking from the dog’s head lights I said, ho now And she came in drunk with her hands on her hips Spit-knocking in the floor, gave the dog a kick I said, ho now She slapped me hard right across my face Said I can’t live in this goddamned place no more Then she wiped her mouth and went off to bed Hey, when I woke up, my poor wife was dead I said, ho now I said, ho now A lot of people say that ain’t how it goes But I say, shit, man, the Lord, he knows I said, ho now Yeah, they locked me up in the county jail Brought in a lawyer to refute my tail I said, ho now So now I sit here in front of you Just praying to god you’ll believe the truth I said, ho now I said, ho now Set this poor man free Now, here’s how the real story goes I went to the yard and got my garden hose\ I said, ho now Then I came inside and I tied her down Said I’m tired of you tramping all across the town I said, ho now And she only kicked for a minute or two I said Lord knows what you put me through I said, ho now Then I laid her up in our marriage bed Put my pillow right beside her head I said, ho now It was hard to sleep, I’ll be the first to admit But that devil got exactly what was coming to it I say, ho now I say, ho now
7.
Starline Drive 03:18
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It’s getting late again My darling The babies wait beside their beds For you to tuck them in Six long days Since you first went away And on the phone, all you’ll say Is our love’s begun to fade It’s getting late again I’m itching in my skin I climb up on the roof With my old Remington She’s coming down the drive I put her in my sights And just before I take her life I hear my babies cry I hear my babies cry
8.
Lonely at Night 04:07
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I was on the road again Heading towards the sea Headlights shining in the rain God staring at me Stopped along the corner there For a drink of liquor or beer Proprietor stood behind the bar Smiling from ear to ear And I know I’m living a dream But things, they ain’t what they seem Cause this city gets lonely at night When you can’t escape the light I was on the road again Heading towards the sea Ain’t been home in quite awhile And my mother, she waits there for me She sits alone by the window ledge In a great silver backed chair One leg crossed up over her knee Combing her thinning gray hair And I know I’m living a dream But things, they ain’t what they seem Cause this city gets lonely at night When you can’t escape the light It’s five-hundred miles to the ocean I covered ten today And if I make it back home alive I know I’ll be there to stay
9.
Uncle Stag 03:16
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There’s a house up on a mountain Little sister living with her old man She called me, can you get here This sumbitch done split me ear to ear Get my boots, put my gun in the truck Drive up across the hill through the mud and the muck Well, bust the door down, count to three You never met a man as cruel as me, no I promised your momma some time ago I wouldn’t tell you this story ‘till you was old But it ain’t right, you living in a lie Your daddy wasn’t brave, he was scared to die Don’t mean nothing for who you are Got to pick yourself up, look deep in your heart Wipe your tears, boy, don’t you cry Cause there ain’t nothing we can’t survive I’m Uncle Stag, that’s who I am I’m going to show you what it takes for to be a man Got to cut out a place for you and yours Never sit too easy with your back to the door Well, life is hard, trust me I know They just shit you on the ground, expect to grow Life is hard, trust me I know They just shit you on the ground boy, expect for you to grow
10.
Planetary Haze 02:36
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Old man and a young boy walking barefooted through an open field Dropping seeds to the dirt from their hands, covering them up with the back of their heels Old man stops dead, straightens up and takes a good long look around Says, boy, what you think of this crooked ground Lost forever in this planetary haze Says the boy to the man and he wrinkles up his face He says, you don’t know a goddamn thing about this life But if you did, boy, I’d say you were right Married woman and her pretty young daughter riding around in an SUV Cross town, her daddy’s laid up with a woman age twenty-three Momma knows and she looks to her daughter for a little bit of sympathy Says how am I supposed to live with this man doing this to me Lost forever in this planetary haze Says the girl to her ma and she wrinkles up her face She says, you don’t know a goddamn thing about this life But if you did, girl, I’d say you were right Lost forever in this planetary haze A single stone thrown in the air until it lands upon your grave You can sing to the skies above with all your pretty prayers But the truth is, we’re all right here
11.
Farmer's Wake Part II 04:47
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Well it’s way past my bedtime when I finally get in My sister she scolds me, saying where have you been She takes off my coat and she tucks me into bed Recites an old prayer from a book that she’s read Now I lay me down to sleep Pray the lord my soul to keep His love to guide me through the night And wake me in the morning light Well the crescent moon’s rising, I can hear the church bell Tolling distant and softly that it must be past twelve Fox in the hen house, well’s dry as a bone The fields all lie fallow cause they never were sown In a cramped upstairs bedroom, there’s an oil lamp lit Daddy’s laid up, Momma’s with him Telling him to go, only god knows what’s best A quiet old prayer waits just under her breath Now I lay me down to sleep Pray the lord my soul to keep If I should die before I wake I pray the Lord my soul to take Standing in the field as the sun sets on the farm In a suit much too big, a bible under my arm Staring at the cross, a thought runs through my head So I look to the west and I pray for the dead Now I lay me down to sleep Pray the lord my soul to keep If I should die before I wake I pray the lord my soul to take

about

Fonta Flora is Robert A Maynor IV and Andrew Dosher

Recorded 2013-2015 in the Upstate and Lowcountry of South Carolina

Music and lyrics by Robert A Maynor IV and Andrew Dosher except for “Farmer’s Wake Part II,” by Andrew Dosher and Robert A Maynor IV

credits

released July 3, 2020

Robert A Maynor IV: Lead vocals, rhythm guitar, percussion

Andrew Dosher: Lead guitars, violins, mandolins, bass, drums, harmonica, and backing vocals

Podium: percussion on "Lay Your Burdens Down"

Cover art by Momink Artthur

Special thanks to Lilllie Craton and Sara & Bobby Maynor for housing our vagabond recording studio on multiple occasions.

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Fonta Flora South Carolina

Fonta Flora is two dudes from SC, one hailing from Possum Kingdom, the other from the depths of the Wassamassaw Swamp. We write folksy, twangy, rumbling, rambling songs about hard times, about good times, about times gone by.

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