July 12, 1939

July the 12th sho' was a scorcher
Mama she’d fixed some lemonade
Sister Beth was sunnin' in the sunshine
Baby Cory was a playin' in the shade.
I looked up the road yonder comes a big car
Somethin' we don’t see much around here
Big man said son where’s your pappy
Said he’s over in the cornfield not far from here.
They started taking over by the rail fence
It looked like papa was a gettin' mad
They walked to the house and papa was a cryin'
Papa never cried and I knew it was bad.
Two weeks later in the Logan Courthouse
Raining cats and dogs outside
Sure was awful the way mama was a cryin'
She said she thought that woman had lied.
Papa siad Judge we tried to raise up a good boy
From a little bitty tot
Jody’d never go against of what a woman wishes
That kind of boy we know that he’s not.
You know the power of the almighty dollar
Will come out the winner every time
That Willie Buchanan done got away with something
And they’re tryin' to blame that boy of mine.
Hmh, hmh, hmm, hmm, July the 12th 1939
Hmh, hmh, hmm, hmm…