Phil Ochs — Jim Dean of Indiana

[Verse 1] It was on an Indiana farm In the middle of the country Growin' in the fields of grain Jim Dean of Indiana [Verse 2] His mother died when he was a boy His father was a stranger Marcus Winslow took him in Nobody seemed to want him [Verse 3] The hired man sang like a storm Sometimes he would beat him 'Cause he would never do the chores He was lost in dreamin' [Verse 4] He never seemed to find a place With the flatlands and the farmer So he had to leave one day He said to be an actor [Verse 5] Once he'd come back to the farm With starlets from the stages They locked themselves inside his room The people turned their faces [Verse 6] A neighbor run from the movie house Chickens there were scattered He swore he saw upon the screen Jim Dean of Indiana [Verse 7] He played a boy without a home Torn with no tomorrow Reaching out to touch someone A stranger in the shadow [Verse 8] The Winslows left for the movie town They drove across the country They hoped that he would stay around And they hoped he would be friendly [Verse 9] He talked to them for half an hour But he was busy racing He left for the Grapevine road They left for Indiana [Verse 10] Then Marcus heard on the radio That a movie star was dying He turned the tuner way down low So Ortense could go on sleeping [Verse 11] It was not until they reached the farm Where the hired man was waitin' The wind was silent through the grain It was just like they had told him [Verse 12] They buried him just down the road A mile from the farmhouse That is where I placed a flower For Jim Dean of Indiana