Outstanding
Another song in the country tradition of wordplay, like the great Roger Miller who wrote The Last Word in Lonesome is Me. And the remarkable line, My Daddy was a pistol, I'm a son of a gun.
The photo, from the Library of Congress, is a favorite of mine, showing the rough life of the farm and a woman on her journey away from the farm.
I saw a family photo of your great grandmother,
She was wearing overalls and a hat made of straw,
She was an honest working farmer,
Who never learned to read or write,
And there she is out standing, in her field.
Her daughter, your grandmother,
Was the first to get through high school,
She was an Army nurse back in World War II,
They say she was a brave one,
Showing courage and conviction,
They say she was was outstanding in her field.
CHORUS:
Outstanding, Outstanding,
Outstanding, Outstanding,
All the women that came before you,
Let you be outstanding in your field.
Then there was your mother,
The first to go to college,
She became a lawyer in New York,
She tried a lot of cases and,
She nearly always won,
They say she was outstanding in her field.
And now that you are all grown up,
And don't like city living,
So you have started up your own organic farm,
There you are with goats and cheese,
Straw hat and coveralls,
Now we see you out standing in your field.
CHORUS