I was the youngest boy in a family of four We lived in Oklahoma, the wind whistled through our door We scratched out a living in the dirt and the clay I never will forget it until my dying day The dust storms they came at us, the sky turned cold and black We packed up our belongings and never looked back We rode out west toward the sun just a heartbeat away I never will forget it until my dying day We were Bakersfield bound and the California dream
Down the road lay the promised land, our fields would all turn green We were Bakersfield bound like so many gone before Just to cross our river Jordan and reach the other shor When we first set eyes on the San Joaquin was like a friend we always knew The gates swung open so far and wide even God could drive through We worked the crops from dawn to dusk, shared along the way I never will forget it until my dying day