Crandolph’s Barbaric Yawp

MA BAKER’S LITTLE ACRE

By John D. Loudermilk
©1961 Acuff-Rose Publ. Inc.

Now a little old lady by the name of Ma Baker
Lived out of town on one square acre
In a little white house with a picket fence all around

She had a kind and a gentle way
Till the day the T.V.A. tried to make
Ma Baker sell her little acre of land

They showed her a map of how the river ran
And a sketch of the brand new dam
But Ma Baker wouldn’t sell her little acre of land

She said, "Pa left this to me sonny
And I wouldn’t sell for love nor money"
No sir, Ma Baker’s gonna keep her little acre of land

The next time they came, they brought the sheriff
And found Ma a-rockin’ in an old porch chair
Just a-knittin’ and a-rockin’ out in the evening sun

She told them that they’d best to wait
And not to step through the picket gate
And on Ma’s lap they noticed Pa’s old shotgun

Now out in the middle of the brand new lake
Is a little island of one square acre
And Ma Baker’s just as happy as she can be

She can’t swim but she can float
And catch big bass from her motor boat
And when the wind ain’t blowin’ too much
She can water ski
And… Ma Baker still owns her little acre of land

(source: Standard Songs Pop/ Country/ Blues/ Folk/ Instumentals/ Novelty, Acuff-Rose Publications Inc. 1956-1973)