No, this isn't the
travelling salesman joke, or another
Farmer Brown joke. It's not even a
joke; it's for real! This is a song by the
folk band
Eddie from Ohio, from their studio album "
actually not", but phenomenally better on "
portable efo show". They sing three part harmony on all the choruses, but add a
bass (and he is a true bass, not a
baritone!) and break into an amazing
four part a cappella breakdown, with
harmony in the old
Appalachian style--the
high lonesome sound that
bluegrass gospel is famous for, only without the
baggage--before the last chorus. If the live cut doesn't give you
goosebumps,
check your pulse.
Lyrics:
CHORUS:
Breaking hearts in
Halifax County,
the
three fine daughters of Farmer Brown,
Turning heads on the boys in the schoolyard,
catching whistles from the men downtown,
No one knows why they went
rowing.
The three fine daughters of Farmer Brown,
they didn't know that the rocks on the river'd
be the
Three Sisters' Island where they'd all drown.
Widower Brown had a girl named Nellie,
she was the oldest and toughest of
three.
She'd take her daddy's well-sharpened
sickle
and carve "
kill men" in the
sycamore tree.
The men came a courtin' but she'd keep her distance,
never cracked a smile, just played it
coy.
Some would say "She's as tender as a
petal--
she'd act up 'cause her daddy wanted a boy."
Old Man Brown had a girl named
Dottie,
the middle button and the most vain of the three.
She'd take her daddy's fat leather
boot strap
with anyone who'd call her
Dorothy.
The men would fall on her, and she'd repay them,
peck 'em where they'd find it safe to
kiss--
like the
barn or the
kitchen or the upstairs
parlor--
anywhere to keep 'em from her father's fist.
CHORUS
Farmer Brown had a girl named
Becca,
she was the youngest and most reverent of all.
She'd take her daddy's
King James Bible
and go study
scripture at the Brethren Hall.
The men would avoid her, and she would condemn 'em
for
cussin', and drinkin', and chasin' the Browns.
She'd say "Repent, and join
God forever!
The pleasure of sin's not as good as it sounds."
One day the three with nothing in common
spied upon an abandoned
rowboat.
Maybe their sense of adventure had pushed
the three young girls to set the ship afloat.
They didn't know the strength of the
river,
the merciless current that pulled 'em down;
Maybe it was due the weight of their
denim,
but the three girls' bodies were never found.
a cappella, fortissimo:
Some may recall the singin' of the
sirens
lured in the sailors who wrecked and drowned.
Some say they still hear the fightin' and the flirtin'
and the preachin' of the daughters of
Farmer Brown.
CHORUS