Got this from the Harry Smith Anthology of American Folk Music. This song feels appropriate because farmers are having a real tough time making a living these days.
[G] Come you ladies and you gentlemen and listen to my song
I’ll sing it to you right, but you might think it’s wrong
May make you mad but I mean no harm
[G] It’s just about the renters on [D] Penny’s [Em] farm
[G] It’s hard times in the country
Down on [D] Penny’s [G] farm
Now you move out on Penny’s farm
Plant a little crop of ‘bacco and a little crop of corn
He’ll come around to see, gonna plan and plot
Till he gets himself a mortgage on everything you got
It’s hard times in the country
Down on Penny’s farm
Hasn’t George Penny got a flattering mouth
Move you to the country in a little log house
Got no windows but cracks in the wall
He’ll work you all summer and rob you in the fall
It’s hard times in the country
Down on Penny’s farm
You go in the fields and you work all day
Way into the night but you get no pay
Promise you meat or a little lard
It’s hard to be a renter on Penny’s farm
It’s hard times in the country
Down on Penny’s farm
Now here’s George Penny come into town
With his wagon-load of peaches, not one of them sound
He’s got to have his money or somebody’s check
You pay him for a bushel and you don’t get a peck
It’s hard times in the country
Down on Penny’s farm