The Woody Guthrie album in the previous post does have a song called "Washington Talkin’ Blues" on it. Musically, it's not much, but the story told is top-notch. Dust Bowlers leaving behind the family farm behind, and making their way to Washington, only to find the same dry, dusty conditions as back home.
Hot old rocks and the desert sand made the mind run back to the dust bowl land. But the hopes was high as we rolled along to the Columbia River up in Washington. Lots of good rain, little piece of land, a feller might grow something.
We settled down on some cut-over land and I pulled up the brush and the stumps by hand. Sun burnt up my first crop of wheat, and the river down the canyon just five-hundred feet. Might as well have been fifty miles. Couldn’t get no water.
Guthrie was certain that the Grand Coulee Dam could solve all the water problems, though.
Now what we need is a great big dam to throw a lot of water out across that land. People could work and stuff would grow and you could wave good by to the old skidrow. Find you a job, work hard, raise all kinds of stuff. Kids too.
