Lester Hunter left the Dust Bowl for the fields of California and wrote this poem, later turned into a song by migrant workers in California\u2019s Farm Security Administration camps. The \u201cC.I.O.\u201d in the final line refers to the Congress of Industrial Unions, a powerful new industrial union founded in 1935.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n We go around all dressed in rags<\/p>\n While the rest of the world goes neat,<\/p>\n And we have to be satisfied<\/p>\n With half enough to eat.<\/p>\n We have to live in lean-tos,<\/p>\n Or else we live in a tent,<\/p>\n For when we buy our bread and beans<\/p>\n There’s nothing left for rent.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I’d rather not be on the rolls of relief,<\/p>\n Or work on the W. P. A.,<\/p>\n We’d rather work for the farmer<\/p>\n If the farmer could raise the pay;<\/p>\n Then the farmer could plant more cotton<\/p>\n And he’d get more money for spuds,<\/p>\n Instead of wearing patches,<\/p>\n We’d dress up in new duds.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n From the east and west and north and south<\/p>\n Like a swarm of bees we come;<\/p>\n The migratory workers<\/p>\n Are worse off than a bum.<\/p>\n We go to Mr. Farmer<\/p>\n And ask him what he’ll pay;<\/p>\n He says, “You gypsy workers<\/p>\n Can live on a buck a day.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I’d rather not be on the rolls of relief,<\/p>\n Or work on the W. P. A.,<\/p>\n We’d rather work for the farmer<\/p>\n If the farmer could raise the pay;<\/p>\n Then the farmer could plant more cotton<\/p>\n And he’d get more money for spuds,<\/p>\n Instead of wearing patches,<\/p>\n We’d dress up in new duds.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n We don’t ask for luxuries<\/p>\n Or even a feather bed.<\/p>\n But we’re bound to raise the dickens<\/p>\n While our families are underfed.<\/p>\n Now the winter is on us<\/p>\n And the cotton picking is done,<\/p>\n What are we going to live on<\/p>\n While we’re waiting for spuds to come?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Now if you will excuse me<\/p>\n I’ll bring my song to an end.<\/p>\n I’ve got to go and chuck a crack<\/p>\n Where the howling wind comes in.<\/p>\n The times are going to better<\/p>\n And I guess you’d like to know<\/p>\n I’ll tell you all about it,<\/p>\n I’ve joined the C. I. O.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n