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{{Infobox song

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| name = Long Hard Road (The Sharecropper's Dream)
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{{Infobox single
| cover =
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| Name = Long Hard Road (The Sharecropper's Dream)
| Cover =
| alt =
| type = single
| Artist = [[Nitty Gritty Dirt Band]]
| Album = [[Plain Dirt Fashion]]
| artist = [[Nitty Gritty Dirt Band]]
| album = [[Plain Dirt Fashion]]
| Released = May 21, 1984
| Format = [[7-inch single|7"]]
| B-side = Video Tape
| Recorded = December 1983
| released = May 21, 1984
| recorded = December 1983
| Genre = [[Country music|Country]]
| Length = 3:20
| studio =
| venue =
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| Label = [[Warner Bros. Records|Warner Bros.]]
| Writer = [[Rodney Crowell]]
| genre = [[Country music|Country]]
| Producer = [[Paul Worley]]
| length = 3:20
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| label = [[Warner Bros. Records|Warner Bros. Nashville]]
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| Last single = "[[Dance Little Jean]]" <br />(1983)
| writer = [[Rodney Crowell]]
| This single = "'''Long Hard Road (The Sharecropper's Dream)'''" <br />(1984)
| producer = [[Paul Worley]]
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| Next single = "[[I Love Only You]]"<BR>(1984)
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| prev_title = [[Dance Little Jean]]
| prev_year = 1983
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| next_title = [[I Love Only You]]
| next_year = 1984
}}
}}
"'''Long Hard Road (The Sharecropper's Dream)'''" is the title of a song written by [[Rodney Crowell]] and recorded by American country music band [[Nitty Gritty Dirt Band]]. It was released in May 1984 as the lead single from the album, ''[[Plain Dirt Fashion]]''. The song became the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's first (of three) No. 1 songs on the ''[[Billboard magazine|Billboard]]'' [[Hot Country Songs|Hot Country Singles]] chart.<ref>{{cite book |title= The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition|last=Whitburn |first=Joel |authorlink=Joel Whitburn |year=2004 |publisher=Record Research |page=249}}</ref>
"'''Long Hard Road (The Sharecropper's Dream)'''" is a song written by [[Rodney Crowell]] and recorded by American [[country music]] band [[Nitty Gritty Dirt Band]]. It was released in May 1984 as the lead single from the album, ''[[Plain Dirt Fashion]]''. The song was the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's first (of three) No. 1 songs on the ''[[Billboard magazine|Billboard]]'' [[Hot Country Songs|Hot Country Singles]] chart.<ref>{{cite book |title= The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition|last=Whitburn |first=Joel |author-link=Joel Whitburn |year=2004 |publisher=Record Research |page=249}}</ref>


==Content==
==Content==
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Years later, the protagonist has now apparently made it big in his chosen field (perhaps in music, as implied by the lyrics), and has the opportunity to reflect on his childhood. Here, he realizes he didn't have it so bad in the cotton fields and having the warmth and security of his family close by. As he bemoans missing things that marked his childhood — watching lightning bugs dance in the rain, listening to the raindrops beat on the tin roof of his log cabin home and hearing his parents make music with makeshift instruments — he is resigned to living out his dream, which he is determined to make come true.
Years later, the protagonist has now apparently made it big in his chosen field (perhaps in music, as implied by the lyrics), and has the opportunity to reflect on his childhood. Here, he realizes he didn't have it so bad in the cotton fields and having the warmth and security of his family close by. As he bemoans missing things that marked his childhood — watching lightning bugs dance in the rain, listening to the raindrops beat on the tin roof of his log cabin home and hearing his parents make music with makeshift instruments — he is resigned to living out his dream, which he is determined to make come true.


==Chart positions==
==Charts==
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{{col-start}}
⚫
{{col-2}}

===Weekly charts===
{|class="wikitable sortable"
{|class="wikitable sortable"
!align="left"|Chart (1984)
!align="left"|Chart (1984)
!align="center"|Peak<br />position
!align="center"|Peak<br />position
|-
|-
{{singlechart|Billboardcountrysongs|1|artist=The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band}}
|align="left"|U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles
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|align="center"|1
|-
|-
|align="left"|Canadian ''RPM'' Country Tracks
|align="left"|Canadian ''RPM'' Country Tracks
|align="center"|2
|align="center"|2
|}
|}
{{col-2}}

===Year-end charts===
{|class="wikitable"
!Chart (1984)
!Position
|-
|US Hot Country Songs (''Billboard'')<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/1984/hot-country-songs|title=Hot Country Songs – Year-End 1984|work=Billboard|accessdate=June 16, 2021}}</ref>
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|align="center"|12
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|}
{{col-end}}


==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}

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{{s-start}}
{{sucession box
| before = "[[Still Losing You]]" by [[Ronnie Milsap]]
| title = ''Billboard'' [[Hot Country Songs|Hot Country Singles]] number-one single
| years = August 25, 1984
| after = "[[Let's Fall to Pieces Together]]" by [[George Strait]]
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}}
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{{s-end}}


{{Nitty Gritty Dirt Band}}
{{Nitty Gritty Dirt Band}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:1984 singles]]
[[Category:1984 singles]]
[[Category:Billboard Hot Country Songs number-one singles]]
[[Category:1984 songs]]
[[Category:Nitty Gritty Dirt Band songs]]
[[Category:Nitty Gritty Dirt Band songs]]
[[Category:Songs written by Rodney Crowell]]
[[Category:Songs written by Rodney Crowell]]
[[Category:Song recordings produced by Paul Worley]]
[[Category:Song recordings produced by Paul Worley]]
[[Category:Warner Bros. Records singles]]
[[Category:Warner Records singles]]

{{1980s-country-song-stub}}

Latest revision as of 20:40, 6 May 2024

"Long Hard Road (The Sharecropper's Dream)"
Single by Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
from the album Plain Dirt Fashion
B-side"Video Tape"
ReleasedMay 21, 1984
RecordedDecember 1983
GenreCountry
Length3:20
LabelWarner Bros. Nashville
Songwriter(s)Rodney Crowell
Producer(s)Paul Worley
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band singles chronology
"Dance Little Jean"
(1983) 		"Long Hard Road (The Sharecropper's Dream)"
(1984) 		"I Love Only You"
(1984)

"Long Hard Road (The Sharecropper's Dream)" is a song written by Rodney Crowell and recorded by American country music band Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. It was released in May 1984 as the lead single from the album, Plain Dirt Fashion. The song was the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's first (of three) No. 1 songs on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart.[1]

Content

[edit]

The song is told through the eyes of the son of a sharecropper, who along with his family was forced to work long, hard hours in a cotton field for little pay. Now a grown man, the main protagonist's memories of childhood are mainly pleasant, such as singing songs along with his grandmother's radio, hearing his mother read from the Bible and always having food to eat. However, his dreams take him to a better life:

"Someday I was dreamin' that a song that I was singin'
"Takes me down the road to where I want to go.
"Now I know, it's a long hard road."

Years later, the protagonist has now apparently made it big in his chosen field (perhaps in music, as implied by the lyrics), and has the opportunity to reflect on his childhood. Here, he realizes he didn't have it so bad in the cotton fields and having the warmth and security of his family close by. As he bemoans missing things that marked his childhood — watching lightning bugs dance in the rain, listening to the raindrops beat on the tin roof of his log cabin home and hearing his parents make music with makeshift instruments — he is resigned to living out his dream, which he is determined to make come true.

Charts

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 249.
  2. ^ "The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
  3. ^ "Hot Country Songs – Year-End 1984". Billboard. Retrieved June 16, 2021.
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