Leon McDuff - Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury

I come before you to plead for the life of Leon McDuff

Ladies and gentlemen on the jury

I asking you to be the judge of when enough is enough

Now Leon McDuff has worked on his daddy’s farm everyday since the day that he

was born

Plowing in the fields and hoeing in the garden and helping pick the cotton and

the corn

Then came the time of the Mississippi floods and all of his work went down the

drain

The land was parched by the sun and blown by the wind and finally washed away

by the rain

So he went to his friends to get some help from them but their crops and their

money was all gone

So he went to the bank to mortgage his home but the bank wouldn’t give Leon a

loan

He could not decide how his family would survive with no crops and no money to

buy food

And as he struggled with his hands to rework his land the notice came that said

his land tax was due

Now Leon McDuff has worked on his daddy’s farm everyday since the day that he

was born

Plowing in the fields and hoeing in the garden and helping pick the cotton and

the corn

Then came the time of the Mississippi floods and all of his work went down the

drain

The land was parched by the sun and blown by the wind and finally washed away

by the rain

Now in an air-conditioned office on the other side of town sat a government

official with a frown

'Cause he’d been trying for so long to find land to build a summer home but

cheap river land could not be found

Then in the middle of his gloom his boss walked in the room and said I’ve got

some real good news for the house you’ve planned

There’s a farmer who’s so poor and whose luck has run so sour that he can not

pay the taxes on his land

So just you wait a week or two 'til the money’s over due then go to the cashier

down the hall

With his deed in your hand pay the taxes on the land have the sheriff give Leon

McDuff a call

Have him tell Leon to move by the last day of July because the taxes on his

land are overdue

Tell him he has to move away 'cause the taxes were not paid then all his river

land belongs to you

Now Leon McDuff has worked on his daddy’s farm everyday since the day that he

was born

Plowing in the fields and hoeing in the garden and helping pick the cotton and

the corn

Then came the time of the Mississippi floods and all of his work went down the

drain

The land was parched by the sun and blown by the wind and finally washed away

by the rain

Now in that air-conditioned office in about a week or two came the sheriff

saying I’ve got some bad news

That Leon McDuff says he’s had some bad luck and he’ll try to get the money but

he ain’t agonna' move

That official he jumped up and grabbed the sheriff by the arm he said we’re

going down to take that land today

So he and the sheriff drove down to Leon’s farm to tell the McDuffs to move away

There stood Leon on his land with a shotgun in his hand, his eyes narrowed

'neath the brim of his hat

He said «I've worked hard on this land as a boy and as a man I ain’t gonna lose

it to no god damned bureaucrat.»

Well that bureaucrat got mad and grabbed the gun in Leon’s hand and in the

struggle an explosion cracked the air

And when the smoke and dust had cleared and the ringing left their ears,

the sheriff lay a dying on the ground

Now Leon McDuff has worked on his daddy’s farm everyday since the day that he

was born

Plowing in the fields and hoeing in the garden and helping pick the cotton and

the corn

Then came the time of the Mississippi floods and all of his work went down the

drain

The land was parched by the sun and blown by the wind and finally washed away

by the rain

Now on this table I will lay, this gun «Exhibit A» with two sets of

fingerprints as you can see

But other hands were here unperceived by eye or ear that helped trigger off

this awful tragedy

Now to me it’s still unclear just what really caused the problem here

There’s much too much we’ve got to know before we know enough

So we can’t find out today where all the guilt should lay but it shouldn’t be

on Leon McDuff