Analysis

"From the fuel that fills your truck, to the coffee in your cup, don’t thank the corner store, or that early morning rush, thank a farmer." Thank a Farmer, James Wesley

Country music has always been a big part of my life, everything from Hank Williams Jr. to current stars like Luke Bryan or Eric Church. Whether I'm cleaning stalls at the farm, or sitting around a fire with friends, you can bet there’s a country station on the radio. Country music, unlike some popular genres today, tells a story, stories about love, growing up on a farm, or simply drinking beer with your buddies. Most country artists come from back grounds similar to those of their audience. Personally, this is why I enjoy country music as well as the meaning behind it.

One specific song that is near and dear to my heart is Thank a Farmer by James Wesley. Just like many kids in small towns around the country, I have spent most of my teen years working on a farm. There I’ve learned to appreciate not only what I have, but how much of an impact the agriculture industry has on everyday life, and the things we would be without if it weren’t for farmers across the country. This song talks about everything from the misunderstanding of where many of the products we use in our everyday life come from, to the values of a blue collar lifestyle. The title in itself explains how under-appreciated farmers really are. Anyone can say “it’s easy” or “anyone could do that” but really it’s not. Farming is much more than a little manual labor and sweat on a hot summer day. It’s a year round responsibility, not just a few days of planting then six months until harvest.

As stated before, many songs and artists talk about small town living or life on a farm, but many are focused more on the “fun” aspect of it all. Many times, the “drinking beer in a hay field” aspect is what many portray. In all reality, farmers work from well before sunrise, to well after dark, leaving no time for play. If you’ve ever talked to a farmer, you would notice all they do revolves around work. No matter what time of year, or what time of day it is, everything they do is about farming. Of course they make time for family and faith, but one can only do so much.

“I still believe in amber waves of grain, man on his knees praying for rain, that grew this country strong, and keep us moving on, they get tougher as their lives keep gettin' harder.”

This is one of the most meaningful lines in this song, farmers across the country takes a huge risk the second they plant that seed. Too much or too little rain or one big wind storm and they could lose their entire crop, thousands of dollars down the drain in an instant. When natural disasters hit, and destroy crops in their path, we are impacted as well. Prices of food, gas and other items we rely on every day go through the roof. Not because of something the president did or greedy “big wigs” in Washington are trying to fill their pockets. Crops like corn are used in the manufacturing of hundreds of products we rely on every day. If a record drought hit the Midwest and cut average yields in half, we would feel the impact in more ways than one.

Country music is one of the most patriotic genres played nationwide. It seems like every artist has at least one song about freedom or our rights as Americans, whether it be Freedom of Religion or Right to Bare Arms. In this song, Wesley talks about how farmers, in most cases, have more on their plate than anyone, yet they still value their freedoms and use it to push through the toughest times. In the chorus, he explains the saying “farmers are the back bone of America”. Farmers truly do keep this country moving forward. If you spent just a day on a true, running farm somewhere in the Midwest, you would see how every day they are working to find ways to produce higher yielding crops, or even find new methods to grow new crops in their area. Dairy and livestock farmers are just as important as those harvesting grain. Without them we wouldn’t have two of the most commonly consumed items in the world, red meat and dairy products. If it weren’t for these farmers, we would have to find other ways to get all the nutrients we get from meat and dairy that keep us up and running throughout the day. In order for us to get the benefits from these farmers, we need them all to be successful because without one, we won’t have the other. Without the grain, the livestock farmers can’t feed their animals. Without the livestock, the crop growers have nothing to fertilize their fields.

Farming is just a way of life, that’s all it is, but it is one of the toughest, most challenging ways of life anyone could have. With all they do for this country and even the world, farmers should be the richest people you would meet, but that’s not the case. Actually, farmers are very underappreciated. Not every thing you have came right from a factory, and if it did, how did it get there? I can assure you it didn’t just appear there one day and the factory workers tried to make something out of it. I think it’s time that we all “Thank a Farmer”.




James Wesley. Thank a Farmer. Broken Bow Records, 2012. MP3