Written by Max in 2004 and newly arranged for the album Story of My Life.
"I wrote this song after the dotcom crash, when I was unemployed, deep in debt, living in a tiny studio apartment on the California coast, and hoping to become an apprentice on an organic farm. Musically, it's inspired by the old-time gospel songs I grew up with in the western Appalachians.
"I quickly found that all the farms in that part of California had been pushed far out in the countryside by urban sprawl, and the workers barely eked out a living there, in squalid conditions, toiling long hours and driving hundreds of miles per week, hoping to sell their produce to "middle class" urbanites with million dollar homes, while earning minimum wage or less.
"Still, I held on to the dream, and eventually it brought me to my new home."
Lyrics
I picture a land that will feed my soul
Feed my body and make me whole
Kinfolk and neighbors out working the fields
We got fish in the river and game in the hills
Fish in the river and game in the hills
Greens in the springtime and nuts in the fall
Season to season we gather them all
And we give back our love and our sweat
And our blood
We live in this place by the grace of the land
Surrounded by powers beyond our command
Sharing the sunshine and sharing the storm
Sharing the harvest and sharing our home
Fish in the river and game in the hills
Greens in the springtime and nuts in the fall
Season to season we gather them all
And we give back our love and our sweat
And our blood
I picture the ruins of rusted machines
Corrupted by flowers and conquered by streams
That water the meadows and raise up the trees
That flavor the honey we get from the bees
Fish in the river and game in the hills
Greens in the springtime and nuts in the fall
Season to season we gather them all
And we give back our love and our sweat
And our blood
Copyright © Max Carmichael 2015.
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