The Dust Bowl and its severe consequences resulted in a plethora of songs, the great number being a reflection of the extent of the disaster. The dramatic economic, physical and psychological losses were evident in the lyrics.
"My Oklahoma Home (It Blowed Away)," written and sung by Sis Cunningham. (https://youtu.be/vFj_7D5vAqg) Sis Cunningham wrote this song with her brother Bill. Having grown up in Oklahoma and spending the 'dust years' there, they were all too familiar with wind and dust storms. This song takes a lighthearted look at the effects of the wild storms. A modern version sung by Bruce Springsteen is at https://youtu.be/8BI0P3CgtBY.
I wanted some place to call my own.
And settled down along the Cimarron.
My Oklahoma home, it blowed away.
But my Oklahoma home, it blowed away.
Aimed to have some ham and eggs to feed my face.
And got a fancy mortgage on the place.
All the crops I planted blowed away.
All except the mortgage blowed away.
I figured I was all set for life.
And went to town and picked me out a wife.
My Oklahoma woman blowed away.
A-travelin' with the wind at my back.
Chasin' a dust cloud up ahead.
My Oklahoma farm is overhead.
For Oklahoma dust is everywhere.
I can hear my wife a-talkin' in the air.
My Oklahoma home blowed away.
My Oklahoma home that blowed away.
And I'll never get homesick 'til I die.
My Oklahoma home is in the sky.
My farm down upon the Cimarron.
Some is from my Oklahoma home.
by, my Oklahoma home is blowed away.
Woody Guthrie recorded a whole album of "Dust Bowl Ballads" which included songs "I Ain't Got No Home," "Vigilante Man," "Do Re Mi," and "Tom Joad." Peter Goldsmith describes the "Dust Bowl Ballads" as "…one of the half-dozen most important American folk music albums of that decade – or of any other, for that matter." (Goldsmith, Making People's Music: Moe Asch and Folkway Records, p. 119.) Speaking about Guthrie's songs, musicologists Eyerman and Jamison said, "Guthrie usually does a bit more than tell a story; a little [of his populist] philosophy is woven into the folk tapestry." (Eyerman and Jamison, p. 69.) These "Dust Bowl Ballads" verify that observation.
I just blowed in, and I'll blow back out again.
But when the dust gets high, you can't even see the sky.
When you get that dust pneumony, boy, it's time to go.
But a dust storm buried her sixteen hundred feet.
I had to get a steam shovel just to dig my darlin' out.
I had to pack up and go.
An' I just blowed in, an' I'll soon blow out again.
Woody Guthrie wrote about the conditions in "Dust Bowl Refugee," one of his "Dust Bowl Ballads." He sings it at (https://youtu.be/N_ehYkr0NhU).
Now that Peach Fuzz is a-killin' me.
Here today and on our way.
We are only here today.
We're the dust bowl refugees.
And the highway thats our home.
In your crops and in your fruit.
Thats the Dust Bowl Refugee.
I'm a Dust Bowl Refugee.
Be a Dust Bowl Refugee.
Woody Guthrie also wrote "(If You Ain't Got the) Do Re Mi" (https://youtu.be/46mO7jx3JEw) about his personal homeless experience. Woody left the Dust Bowl in Oklahoma and hit the road for California. The flood of migrants often forced him off the road and into the dangerous pastime of freight-hopping. He was kicked out of towns when he was found sleeping in property belonging to the railroad, and spent nights under highway bridges in the cold with other migrants. There were so many people on the road, the Los Angeles police set up roadblocks, which were called the "Bum Blockade," to keep the penniless migrants from entering the state. The police required that travelers have a certain amount of money to stay in their location.
"Talking Dust Bowl Blues," (1937) is another one of Guthrie's "Dust Bowl Ballads." It describes the hardships of farmers forced off their lands when the rains stopped and the dust began to blow. Woody Guthrie sings his song at https://youtu.be/dkAxuqrVNBM.
Rain quit and the black ol' dust storm filled the sky.
Was a hairpin turn, I didn't make it.
In "Pastures of Plenty," written in 1941 (https://youtu.be/BH2DJvgNlMA), Woody Guthrie paints the picture of the migrant workers' struggle against adversity. The hard life of migration and labor are set against the diversity, richness, and plenty of the American landscape.
Lord, your desert is hot and your mountains are cold.
And I sleep on the ground 'neath the light of your moon.
To set on your tale your light sparkling wine.
We'll work in your fight and we'll fight till we win.
'Cause my pastures of plenty must always be free.
They've been tractored out by the cats.
Said: "I'm stayin' with the farm till I die.
'cause we ain't got a chance anymore.
"Ever'body might be just one big soul.
No I'm never coming back, no I'm never coming back again.
The following songs also relate the trials and tribulations that the "Okies," "Arkies" and other migrants encountered along the road. Note that some of these songs were recorded a migrant camps set up by New Deal agencies. Most likely, the recordings were done by "songcatchers" working under the auspices of WPA cultural projects discussed below.
And work could not be found.
Be back in my old home.
And the wind blows all the time.
Be back in my home town.
And you better be well dressed.
And your good old feather bed.
Though it was like giving up Heaven above.
His body was bent from hard work and toil.
Where friends and her loved ones had seen her laid down.
Just hoping I'd meet them in the sweet by-and-by.
I felt like I'd left all the friends that I had.
I cried 'til my heart ached and I scarcely could see.
And the black water splashing 'til the hearts had grown cold.
How I did wish for Texas that old state of mine.
Off of the streets and off the highways.
How I prayed to Heaven and thanked God that night.
But I did wish for Texas and the old folks that night.
Further on in California over mountains and plains.
In the state of California where the sun always shines.
There's nothing left for rent.
We'd dress up in new duds.
While we're waiting for spuds to come?
I'll bring my song to an end.