Lyrics:

I remember that summer I was ten years old
When our days ceased to shine
No, you could not take a breath
When those black blizzards came
Strippin' land in dire need of rain

There was dirt on the floor as mama swept all day long
Leavin' trails of tears and mud down her face
There was dirt in our beds and there was dirt in our clothes
And there was dirt in the little that we ate

We had heard about the market's fall a couple of years before
But the fields and the harvest all seemed fine
Sometimes the things that kill us that which we don't know
That strip the land of everything but pride

Stay close together, that's all we knew to get by
I recall a helpless feelin' the first time that I saw my father cry
Lookin' back on everything we had, on everything we lost
Still makes me wonder was stayin' worth the cost?

But the town folk up and left they boarded up the schools and banks
And the churches and that, to me, was wrong
Come next year, it would be better
Will the last one standin' tall before the walls
Show the most resolve?

They announced the New Deal with the Conservation Act and then
The Relief Fund but we were on our knees
There was little hope by then so we just stood there in that line
And we thanked the man for that little bit of cheese

Stay close together that's all we knew to get by
How I recall a helpless feelin' the first time that I saw my father cry
Lookin' back on everything we had, on everything we lost
Still makes me wonder was stayin' worth the cost?