An Ode to GreaZy Beans

My neighbor Betty Sue Parker with her Greasy Cornfield Beans

On April Fools' day I was invited up to the Watauga Public Library to sing for the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new seed library there.  One of the organizers, Dave Walker, asked me to find a sing-along type song about gardening.  I tried, and didn't find anything I liked.  Eventually it was the day of, and I had no song, so on the ride up 421 from Winston Salem to Boone I jotted down the lines to this ditty.  And, just so you know, I have (like many other songwriters I'm sure) mastered the art of writing without looking at my hand or the paper (thanks Drawing class).

Oh, and it's pronounced "Greezzy" not "Greece-y..."

When I was a youngun' I knew very little
and at a church supper I set down for vittles
I tasted a legume that was so serene
Love at first sight, with greasy beans

These beans were so fat, like they could explode
Down my gizzard more and more flowed
So tender, and flavored with last fall's hog fat
Pass the beans!  I'll have more of that!

[Chorus]
Greasy beans (greasy beans), Greasy Beans (greasy beans)
Oh how I love greasy beans,
Amongst all the beans that I've ever seen
None can compare to the greasy bean

Now for greasy beans the best way to sow's
At the foot of field corn, up which they'll grow
Make sure your corn's at least two feet high
Cause these beans can climb, Damn near to the sky

Phaseolus Vulgaris, a fine species
Has many splendid varieties
Like October beans, Goose beans, and Turkey Craw
But the Greasy Bean Beats, all I ever saw

[Chorus]

Now for the Yankees and Un-initiated 
I'll tell you something that long I have hated
That's when fools pick greasy beans far too young
they should be fat and full, and then UNSTRUNG

When they lay me down to rest
Pile greasy beans seeds all on my chest
Wait! No, that'd be a terrible waste
Plant 'em yourself and have you a taste

[Chorus]