Levon Helm - Growing Trade lyrics

I worked the land to raise a family
Til I was weary to the bone
But hard labor never bothered me
Lord it's all I've ever known
Too many seasons of calamity
And too much interest on the loan
I'm half the size that I used to be
And half of that is stone
The crops ain't worth the seeding
10 will only get you 5
The livestock I'ma feedin'
I can hardly keep 'em alive
I gotta do what I can to survive
I know the law won't be forgiving
But that'll be the choice I made
I used to farm for a living
And now I'm in the growing trade
The summer beauty of the cotton field
Was like a view from Heaven's door
My granddaddy said that harvest time
Was what the good Lord made us for
I guess he'd wonder where's the dignity
In a crop you raise to burn
But this land is my legacy
I got nowhere else to turn
Shotgun on my shoulder
Where a tote sack oughta be
The thieves are getting bolder
And the feds may be watchin' me
I gotta quit this eventually
I know the law won't be forgiving
But that'll be the choice I made
I used to farm for a living
But now I'm in the growing trade
Helicopters in the distance
Coming closer everyday
They're gonna meet some resistance
Ain't no price I wouldn't pay
There won't be any difference
When they take it all away
Between a cot in the jail house
And a bed beneath the clay
I guess there's nothing to do now but pray
I know the law won't be forgiving
But that'll be the choice I made
I used to farm for a living
And now I'm in the growing trade