Still Workin’ On The Farm
By Jim Ayres
I’m proud to say I am a workin’ man.
I’ll spend my years “Doing the best I can.”
I’ve raised three kids, with these strong hands,
workin’ on the farm.
I’ve had my dreams shatter.
When nothin' seemed to matter.
I’d work all day
to keep the banks away.
My life couldn’t get much sadder.
Then God looked down
Upon this ground.
He gave life to me.
He set me free.
I’ll make this sound
to all around.
It’s not profound.
"I’m heaven bound. "
I’m still workin' on the farm.
By Jim Ayres
I’m proud to say I am a workin’ man.
I’ll spend my years “Doing the best I can.”
I’ve raised three kids, with these strong hands,
workin’ on the farm.
I’ve had my dreams shatter.
When nothin' seemed to matter.
I’d work all day
to keep the banks away.
My life couldn’t get much sadder.
Then God looked down
Upon this ground.
He gave life to me.
He set me free.
I’ll make this sound
to all around.
It’s not profound.
"I’m heaven bound. "
I’m still workin' on the farm.
Perceiving is digging deeper into what we first notice. We must observe using all of our senses, find patterns, make analogies, create and innovate based on what we find.
American Gothic by Grant Wood came to mind when I first read our assignment. As I studied the painting I saw a hardworking farmer. When you are a farmer in Iowa, as I was in my twenties, so much of your financial success is out of your control: weather, market prices, interest rates, government embargoes. You are at the mercy of circumstances. You must have faith. I saw no concern on this man’s face as he looked me straight in the eye. I felt as if this person could deal with whatever life threw at him. I knew Grant Wood painted this painting during the Great Depression when everything was extremely out of control. My parents told me stories about farmers that had their farms repossessed by banks and many others had committed suicide. I saw the gothic window, which are normally in churches. This gave religious undertones. I could see this man was probably in his 60’s but still had a pitchfork in his large hands. He was a proud active physical worker on the farm. A city cushy life of retirement was not in his future.
When I reimaged it, many songs came to mind “Old Man River”especially the line “It just keeps rolling along” (life goes on). Another song that came to mind was “This Old House” and the line “Ain’t got time to fix the shingles. Ain’t got time to fix the door. I’m a gettin’ ready to meet the Saints”. So I immediately knew this needed to be sung by the farmer, telling about his life.
My first thought was that a melody was needed, so I made one up. It was a simple tune in a minor key. I recorded the melody on my computer and went out to mow lawn. While mowing, many thoughts and rough lyrics began to form in my head. I became so excited that some of my thoughts brought tears to my eyes. I even had a big Broadway Show ending planned.
When I came back into the house to write down those lyrics, the right words with rhythm and rhyme did not magically appear. I do not write songs every day. I realized this assignment was hitting a “brick wall”. Now painstakingly, I looked for words that could rhyme and slowly, line by line, worked out the lyrics.
My next step was to put these words back into the melody, but I was creatively drained for this day. I would look at it again tomorrow. The following day I read it as a poem and liked it and thought it was good as is. I hope you enjoy “Still Workin' On The Farm”. Maybe someday it will become a song.
Reflection
Every person perceives this world through observation. Everyone is unique and has a different skill set. To become a more creative person, we must be willing to work hard, develop our skills of observation, and crave knowledge. As an elementary music teacher I hope to have an atmosphere in my classroom where students are passionate about creating music and enjoy sharing it with others.
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