4 Standout Songs From Pop and Rock Acts About the Plight of Farmers
Four pop and rock songs are highlighted for portraying farming and rural hardship outside the country-music tradition.
– Traffic’s “John Barleycorn (Must Die)” uses the barley crop’s life cycle to evoke agriculture’s central role in farmers’ lives.
– The Band’s “King Harvest (Has Surely Come)” depicts farming as psychologically stressful, contrasting calm refrains with an anxious narrator.
– Don Henley’s “A Month Of Sundays” follows a farmer questioning whether mounting difficulties can be overcome.
– John Mellencamp’s “Rain On The Scarecrow” angrily addresses farmers’ desperation and criticises banks for withdrawing support.
- Rock and pop artists have also explored farming hardship.
- The songs range from folk allegory to financial desperation.
- Mellencamp directly criticises banks’ treatment of farmers.