Live 23 Mar 1993 version
[Spoken intro:] This is a song I wrote, uh... back in 1984. I didn't put it on a record, made a big mistake. Alright, and who's gonna help me out here?
Hey there mister, can you tell me what happened to the seeds I've sown
Can you give me a reason, sir, as to why they never grown
They just blown around from town to town back out on to these fields
Where they fall from, from my hand back into the dirt of this hard land
Well me and my sister, from Germantown yeah we did ride
And we made our beds, sir, from the rock on the mountain side
We've blown around from town to town looking for a place to land
Where the sun breaks through the clouds and fall like a circle, like a circle of fire down on this hard land
Now even the rain it don't come around, don't come around here no more
And the only sound at night's the wind slamming that back porch door
Yeah it stirs you up like it wants to just blow you down, twisting and churning up the sand
Leaving all the scarecrows lying face down, down into the dirt of this hard land
Alright now!
From a building up on the hill I can hear a tape deck blasting "Home On The Range"
I can see them bar rim choppers sweeping low across the plains
It's me and you Frank, we're looking for lost cattle, we're twisting and churning up the sand
We're riding in the whirlwind, searching for a lost treasure way down south of the Rio Grande
Riding cross the river in the moonlight up onto the banks of this hard land
Hey Frank, won't you pack your bags and meet me tonight down at Liberty Hall
Well just one kiss from you my brother and we'll ride until we fall
We'll sleep in the fields, we'll sleep by the rivers, and in the morning we'll make a plan
Well if you can't make it, stay hard, stay hungry, stay alive if you can and meet me in a dream of this hard land
The above lyrics are for the live 23 Mar 1993 performance of THIS HARD LAND at Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, NJ, during a warm-up public rehearsal show for the upcoming 1993 leg of the World Tour 1992-1993. This was the song's world premiere. It was played in a solo acoustic guitar and harmonica arrangement.
List of available versions of THIS HARD LAND on this website:
THIS HARD LAND [Official 1982 studio version]