Tobacco. We grew it in our fields. It killed both my parents.

My family has farmed this land
For damn near a hundred years
We made these rocky fields fertile
With lots of blood, sweat and tears

Now you tell me we have to leave
Because the bank foreclosed our loan
That some paper gives you the right
To take the only thing we own

Chorus:
The school books say cotton was king
But we both know that is a joke
The only king there’s ever been
Is the one that grows on Tobacco Road

We always planted tobacco
Cause the government told us to
Now they pulled all the subsidies
And filed a bunch of lawsuits

Now we have these tobacco wars
Fought by some lawyers on TV
They aren’t hurting R.J. Reynolds
But they’re killing farmers like me

Chorus:
The school books say cotton was king
But we both know that is a joke
The only king there’s ever been
Is the one that grows on Tobacco Road

© Kent Newsome and Bob Clay