[Intro: ornamented Punjabi-style male lead, over the dhol alone] Twelve years up a ladder in the Halloran rows Hit the dhol a little louder, let the whole valley know [Verse 1: ornamented Punjabi-style male lead, the dhol chaal driving] Every fall the twelve of us came rollin' up the valley road Sat on ladders in the frost before the sun had even showed Honeycrisp and Cortland, forty bushels by the noon Ramon on the top rung singin' every wedding tune Old Man Halloran with his coffee and his hat Sayin', "Boys, I'm gettin' old," and we would tell him, "Look at that" Then this fall the sign went up, two hundred acres, give a call And a man in shiny shoes came out to measure for a mall Folks in town got quiet, and they shook their heads and said "Well, the orchard crew has bought the farm," like all of us were dead [Chorus: ornamented Punjabi-style male lead, the full band hitting] Tell the whole town we bought the farm, go on and spread the word Every ladder, every tree, every crate and every bird They think it means we're finished, they think it means we're gone We bought the farm, so bring it in, and let the dhol play on [Verse 2: ornamented Punjabi-style male lead, the tumbi riff jumping] Twelve years of coffee cans we buried underneath the bunks Every dollar we didn't send back home or spend on junk Ramon sold his pickup, and Tavita sold her ring Jaswinder worked a second shift, and Danny pawned his everything Took it to the bank in grocery bags, the teller dropped her pen Counted it all afternoon, and then she counted it again Shiny Shoes came back with double, but the old man shook his head "I sell it to the hands that picked it," that is what he said [Chorus: the full band hitting] Tell the whole town we bought the farm, go on and spread the word Every ladder, every tree, every crate and every bird They think it means we're finished, they think it means we're gone We bought the farm, so bring it in, and let the dhol play on [Verse 3: ornamented Punjabi-style male lead, the whole barn dancing] First mornin' as the owners, and I climb the ladder anyway 'Cause an owner's just a picker with his name on the deed today Halloran's in the barn in the brightest scarf that Tavita tied And he's dancin' with his shoulders like a man who's twenty-five Shiny Shoes drives by real slow and rolls his window down And Ramon throws him an apple, says, "The first one's on the house" [Bridge: the band drops to the dhol, then the tihai cadence, one phrase three times landing on the one] Ladder, bushel, crate, and go Ladder, bushel, crate, and go Ladder, bushel, crate, and go, and the whole band lands [Chorus: everything in] Tell the whole town we bought the farm, go on and spread the word Every ladder, every tree, every crate and every bird They think it means we're finished, they think it means we're gone We bought the farm, so bring it in, and let the dhol play on [End]
