It Takes Everybody to Build This Land (1951)

it takes everybody to build this land The Butcher and the Baker and the grocery man the man who owns the runs the train and the farmer cutting wheat on the Kansas plane the teacher the preacher the housewife and the Sailor will'll all work behind the doctor and the Tor they're working in the city while we're working in the woods and we'll all work together to deliver the goods and we'll all work together to deliver the goods it takes everybody to build this [Music] land and we all depend on people we've never even met we depend on all kinds of Specialists we never even see making our clothing building our houses and getting us food and that's where I come in see I'm a farmer growing my own food helping to feed the city nearby folks think I'm independent for instance the other day when I rode into town with a wagon load of vegetables I met two old friends Tom and Jane they think I'm the most independent man they ever knew Tom and Jane said they were going to be Farmers cuz they wanted to be independent well farming's a good life but I had to explain nobody can be independent these days not even a farmer I'm going to have a farm just like you I'm going to raise my own food and I'll be just as independent as you well now wait a minute just raising your own food isn't enough I'm not independent I depend on lots of people for instance today I'm depending on my shoe maker to fix my shoes well we mean Pioneers like in the olden days yeah I'm going to build my all at a logs and I'm going to make all my own clothes well now look now my grandfather and grandmother came here as pioneers and that isn't the way they told it tell you what you get on the wagon and I'll tell you all about it on the way home come on up you go yes sir you just imagine that you were in this area while it was still dark and f i grandfather came here in his covered wagon and believe me he had a sing to keep up his spirits come on you young fellas who have got a mind to range over this far off country your fortune to change and we'll travel out Westward with our hammer and our ho through the Wild Woods we wander on the Ohio get up boy get up getet up Come All You young fellas whever want to go and we all Grandpa and Grandma decided to be Pioneers cuz they wanted to be independent too but right from the start they had to depend on other people Grandpa couldn't have cleared the forest with his bare hands somebody had to make an axe for him swing that axe sing it fine chip that trunk down the timber line Grandpa depended on other men far away to dig iron and coal to make it into steel and Forge it into shape dig that iron down the mine pound that steel till the ax blade shine swing that axe SW swing it fine chip that trunk on the timber line there are a lot of men in the mines and it forges helping Grandpa when he swung that axe well it was only by using tools made by somebody else far away that Grandpa could shape the forest into a farm I will build a l cabin for to keep out the rain and I'll carve out a plow share for to Furrow the plane it was hard work but they had to eat a man can do without a lot of things but not without food with my feet in the furrow and the sweat on my brow and the sun on my shoulder as I follow the plow wasn't much of a plow and every time it hit a stone broke but it did open the Earth for planting the seed well with Grandpa out getting food grandma could make other things they needed like their clothing and while you go out and hoe I will sit at home and sew and spin you out a cief on the oio with the bobin at the center and the treadle down below I'll spin you out a cief on the Ohio yes Jane Grandma did make their clothing but she also needed tools and you weave me out a blanket on the Ohio they couldn't have kept alive without any tools but with tools Grandpa and Grandma but carve a farm out of the Wilderness and make things grow a man needs a roof for a shelter and a shirt for to keep him warm but most of all a man needs food from the day he's born so it's time for a shuing of the Corn it's time for a shuing of the Corn it's time for a shuing of the Corn man needs food from the day he's Barn so it's time for a shuing of the corn with their tools they could grow not just enough but even more than they needed for themselves and that's when they began to depend on even more people you see the work was hard because the tools were clumsy reaping wasn't easy with a shandle sickle one of the other farmers in the valley knew how to do good blacksmith work so Grandpa took some of the food he had left over to trade for a better tool just down the road There lives a man a farmer with a blacksmith shop he'll make a tool to speed my hand and help me raise a better corrup this part-time blacksmith promised to make Grandpa a long handle sizee for some corn by trading that way Grandpa could spend more time at farming cuz he didn't have to make his own tools now the part-time blacksmith made good tools because he didn't have to spend so much time at farming by depending on each other they could grow more food and make better tools with less work there's plenty more than we can eat we'll share our crop with other Farms I'll trade the corn and sell the wheat and get a Sye to speed my arm with the new sythe Grandpa could swing wider and stronger when cutting down his grain the better the tool the more we can do and the better we can do it well before long so many neighbors were trading with the part-time blacksmith that he could spend all his time at the forge he became a specialist for your cabbage Corner cow he will trade a cther plow the blacksmith is the man who does it all instead of the wooden plow that always broke he made them a plow of iron the furrows became deeper and wider oh the work was still hard but they were able to plow much larger fields and get more out of the soil well better tools meant bigger crops so some people could eat without growing their own food they could do other things that made it easier for the people who were still farming for instance they knew that other Specialists were busy making shoes for them for the cob is the man the cobbler is the man summer who went to Spring and fall though your boots May Crack and wear he will keep them in repair the cobbler is the man who shoes them all though your boots May Crack and wear he will keep them in repair the cobbler is the man who shoes them all they knew that other Specialists were making houses for them good shingles for their roof with the Mallet in his hand and the shingle on the stand The Carpenter's the man who builds it all yes The Carpenter's The Man the Carpenters the man summer winter spring and fall for a sack of wheat or more he will make a roof or door the carpenter is the man who builds it all and so Grandpa and the other farmers and the cobbler and the blacksmith got better houses and better shoes because a specialist does a better job the people who specialized live near each other by the banks of the river where the water wheel could give power for machines a small town grew up if you think about it you'll see that's what towns and cities are places where Specialists work and trade yes people who trade with each other depend on each other the cobbler made his own shoes the carpenter built his own house but each did only a part of getting his own food clothing or shelter well the town grew bigger and bigger and bigger it's like a tree growing that starts from The Roots like we started from the so oil the farmer tilled as the Earth gave more we were able to grow away from the soil just the way A Tree Grows away from the roots the way that the tree grows out of the ground is the way that the city grows out of the town the men at the machine the workers with the skill there are building up the city round the factory and mil now the chimneys are smoking to give us all sign a million men are working on the factory line they come from the plains from the mountains and the woods and they all work together to deliver the goods millions of Specialists living side by side and none of them gets his own food or clothing or shelter all by himself yes we've been able to grow farther and farther from the soil but as I keep saying a man always has has to eat a man needs a roof for a shelter and a shirt for to keep him warm and a man needs a meal at the tabletop and Our Roots still need the soil it's only because we have powerful tools like my tractor that we farmers can grow enough food for all those millions of City specialists [Music] the farmer is the man the farmer is the man summer winter spring and fall when the springtime comes around he goes plowing up the ground the farmer is the man who feeds them all [Music] in the springtime and the fall when the corn is growing tall the farmer is the man who feeds them all yes the farmer is the man the farmer is the man summer winter spring and fall he comes riding into town with his wagon loaded down the farmer is the man who feeds them all he comes riding into town with his wagon loaded down the farmer is the man who feeds them all we Farmers Supply the food for the City Markets Grandpa supplied food for the cobbler so he could spend all his time making shoes the cobbler made the whole shoe the form the sole and the upper and he knew the man who wore it but it's different now today our cobblers work in Factor and they are a different kind of specialist each of them makes only part of a shoe and it takes hundreds of people just to make one shoe but these hundreds can make more in a day than the cobbler could make in a lifetime that means I'm depending on hundreds of cobblers for just one pair of shoes yet these Factory Specialists make all these shoes for people they never even see people I depend on people in all walks of life for instance the fishermen bringing in their catch their scaly gold our ships are in the Fisher caught the car goes on the shore we'll dump our catch upon the docks and then sail back for more with a blowy winds in the morning and blowy winds High ho fill the hole with scaly gold and blow blow blow it's first unload the fish we stowed that once swam down below and when they're stored will climb aboard and back to Sea will go with a blowy winds in the morning blowy winds High ho fill the hole with scaly gold and blow blow blow I couldn't be bringing in the crops if they weren't bringing in the fish supplying not only me but the other workers I depend on like the workers in the clothing Factory turning out clothes workers whose job is divided among Specialists the way the Cobblers is today instead of Grandma making a dress by herself thousands are working it making dresses suits and clothes working on the clothes in the working all the day cutting and a shaping and a scissor in the way put them on the presses and you press them carefully working in the clothing Factory dresses coats and trousers make them carefully working in the clothing Factory [Music] and for the buildings we have nowadays you can't just call in a carpenter like Grandpa did we need thousands of Specialists just to cut the Timber and get it to The Sawmill timber timber man that Timber's going to roll timber timber man that Timber's going to roll it takes a py ho hook in a redwood and a 10 lb chain on a pine and a sawmill down by the river just to get that Timber down the line calling timber timber man that Timber's going to roll timber timber man that Timber's going to roll now you take a lumber yard in the city and a pulley spinning up High and a good stron hle up a red brick wall just a heist that Timber to the sky why I'm even depending on other Farmers Far Far Away harvesting wheat on the Kansas Plains to feed the people I depend on Miners and workers in the Machine Factory and lots of others you see Tommy with the tools we have today farmers all over the country can produce great surpluses these tools get their strength not only from the arms of a man but from coal and gasoline and electricity and thousands of men have to spend their time making the tool where only a few made Grandpa's axe or his side for a tool like my tractor you need miners who spend spend all day digging out tons of coal and iron we need Factory workers who mold that iron into shape and put it together to build tractors for Farmers all over the country working on the tractor working all the day turning out the motors to gather up the hay you Bolt the frame together and you Heist it carefully working in a tractor Factory set them on the axle careful with the wheel rubber bolts and copper wire Iron and Steel rivets chain hardwood heavy as can be we're all working in a tractor Factory turning out a tractor just for me so you see all these powerful tools help me to produce more food so I can feed the people who make them whoa who boy whoo he you're home right now oh you go other words it doesn't matter what job I have everybody's depending on me that's right and you'll be depending on all those other people just to keep doing your job joing we work we're all building together it takes a lot of people to build this land and everyone is land in a helping hand the man who owns the mill and the man who run runs the train they're working with the farmer on the Kansas plane in every city the worker at the wheel is cutting out the clothing and a stamping out the steel they're working in the city while we're working in the woods and we'll all work together to deliver the goods we'll all work together to deliver the goods