This song was collected by Margaret Valiant in a migrant camp in California. Valiant was working for the Library of Congress and her material was collected in 1939 and 1940.
This clever song explains the rudiments of agricultural pricing and the effects on the workers. The melody seems to be original. Interestingly, the collector Charles Todd, during an interview which took place in 1980, referred to this song in a somewhat negative manner. He stated that the authorship lay with a professor from Vassar College who was visiting the camps. He stated that he could not remember her name but that she tried to pass this off as an original ‘migrant’ song. No matter the source of the song it is good and paints a broad picture of the migrants’ plight.
It is sung here by The 198 String Band.
Very beautiful song and lyrics but what does it mean in this context “Rolls ” ?
And the acronym CIU ? I ‘ve found CIO id est The Congress of Industrial Organizations , but U ,may be , does it mean Unions?
Yours sincerely
Luigi Erba
Here’s a link to the lyrics and the name of the migrant to whom she credited it. They are indeed talking about the CIO.
http://www.americanyawp.com/reader/23-the-great-depression/lester-hunter-id-rather-not-be-on-relief-1938/
Luigi,
I am sorry for this late reply. There have been changes in the hosting of the site and some things went unanswered. My fault.
There is no CIU. You were correct regarding the CIO which was attempting to organize farm workers into a union. Maybe the singing was not that clear.
The use of the term “Rolls of Relief” is just a list of people who were on welfare (aka Relief). To be on the “Rolls of Relief “ meant you were signed up and were receiving government assistance in the form of weekly checks. The voice in this song would rather work and earn his money.