Disc A-1. Wife Who Works in Town
© lyrics & music by Annie Wilson 2014
Album Note: I can’t explain all the economic and technological forces that
have transformed the family farm from the classic husband-wife team to the
lone husband and absentee-commuter wife. I just know on most farms &
ranches today, that’s what it’s become.
Lyrics:
We say we love the farmer
He’s the truest guy around
But to keep that farmer going
There’s a wife who works in town . . .
She’s a teacher or a waitress Gives a haircut you can trust
She’s a clerk down at the feed store Twice a day she drives the bus
She’s a pediatric nurse and Helps bring babies in the world
Then at night she’s pullin calves Just like a genuine cowgirl
Oh the farm life looks romantic
Til the tractor’s broken down
So to pay that big repair bill
There’s the wife who works in town
While her husband’s sortin cattle And deciding which to sell
She’s in trapped behind a counter With the customer from hell
She’s waitin for the weekend When she’ll finally get outside
On her horse or in her garden Out beneath the open sky
Her mom stayed on the farm to work
Back in the simpler days
But-now family farms can’t make enough
To keep the wolf away
So her husband works all by himself Though he needs a helping hand
She worries that he might get hurt Alone out on the land
But-she leaves home in the dark each day To make that big long drive
She’s haulin kids and dodging deer No time to wonder why
They need that steady paycheck
When-the market price is down
For the years of flood or drought times
There’s the wife who works in town
She’s a teacher or a waitress Gives a haircut you can trust
She’s a clerk down at the feed store Twice a day she drives the bus
She’s trapped behind the counter, But she mustn’t wear a frown
Though-her heart’s out in the country, She’s the wife who works in town






Photos by Annie & John Wilson.
click note for
music sample
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