Old Earl’s John Deere

{chicken-pickin' Telecaster intro, acoustic guitar strumming,

slow banjo rolls} (chuckle) "Yeah,

old Earl..."

Old Earl wasn't the sharpest knife,

that's what the people'd say,

He'd scratch his head,

spit his chew, and laugh it all away.

Had overalls with patches,

boots covered up in clay,

But he'd fire up that John Deere

every single day.

That old green tractor coughed to life with a cloud of diesel

smoke, Earl would grin and holler,

"Boys, she ain't never broke!" He'd ride that thing to the general

store, slow as she could be,

While folks just laughed and pointed,

but Earl didn't seem to see.

{banjo picking intensifies} He'd tip his old cap,

wave his hand, Smile so wide across the land.

{fiddle swell, build up} I'm ridin' this old John Deere,

let that diesel sing,

Ain't worried 'bout your shiny truck or all your fancy things.

Laugh if you want,

boys, I don't care,

I've been growin' food from this old chair.

Y'all can joke, y'all can stare,

This old tractor raised this town right here.

From sun-up light till the moon shined clear,

Ain't nobody knows dirt like old Earl's John Deere.

(yee-haw!) Every now and then he'd drive that tractor right into town,

Holding up traffic while the windows all rolled down.

People laughed and shook their heads,

"That old fool's at it again." Earl just waved from ear to

ear with the biggest country grin.

What they didn't know behind those jokes and all those little sneers,

Old Earl plowed every field around for over fifty years.

Before those houses, parking lots,

and sidewalks covered ground,

That old John Deere and old Earl fed every soul around.

Hold up... let me tell y'all something.

Y'all laughin' at a legend,

man.

That rusty green machine?

It built this whole town.

Yeah... Old Earl don't need chrome,

don't need twenty-twos.

He got dirt on his boots and a lifetime of truth.

Y'all postin' pictures, Earl's makin' history.

Every row in them fields got his legacy.

Before your daddy, before your granddad too,

That John Deere rolled where the black dirt grew.

So keep on laughin' while he tips that hat,

The whole dang county was built like that.

{trap-style 808 beat drop over bluegrass banjo} I'm ridin' this old John

Deere, still turnin' up the ground,

Ain't no fancy GPS gonna show me this old town.

These calloused hands and this worn-out gear,

Built these roads year after year.

So if you see old Earl rollin' by,

Throw him a wave,

don't ask him why.

'Cause every field beneath your feet

Was planted by that old John Deere seat.

{soaring country rock guitars and fiddle jam}

Old Earl just smiled...

shifted another gear... And rolled that old John Deere on home...

While the whole town finally realized...

The old man they laughed at...

was the one who built it.

{fading acoustic guitar strum,

distant tractor engine puttering away,

final banjo flourish}