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{{Infobox Single
{{Infobox single
| Name = Long Hard Road (The Sharecropper's Dream)
| Name = Long Hard Road (The Sharecropper's Dream)
| Cover =
| Cover =
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| Genre = [[Country music|Country]]
| Genre = [[Country music|Country]]
| Length = 3:20
| Length = 3:20
| Label = [[Warner Bros. Records]]
| Label = [[Warner Bros. Records|Warner Bros.]]
| Writer = [[Rodney Crowell]]
| Writer = [[Rodney Crowell]]
| Producer = [[Paul Worley]]
| Producer = [[Paul Worley]]
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}}
}}


"'''Long Hard Road (The Sharecropper's Dream)'''" is the title of a song written by [[Rodney Crowell]] and recorded by American country music band [[The 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 the title of a song written by [[Rodney Crowell]] and recorded by American country music band [[The 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>


==Content==
==Content==
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{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}


{{start box}}
{{s-start}}
{{sucession box
{{sucession box
| before = "[[Still Losing You]]" by [[Ronnie Milsap]]
| before = "[[Still Losing You]]" by [[Ronnie Milsap]]
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| after = "[[Let's Fall to Pieces Together]]" by [[George Strait]]
| after = "[[Let's Fall to Pieces Together]]" by [[George Strait]]
}}
}}
{{end box}}
{{s-end}}


[[Category:1984 singles]]
[[Category:1984 singles]]
[[Category:Billboard Hot Country Songs number-one singles]]
[[Category:Billboard Hot Country Songs number-one singles]]
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[[Category:Songs written by Rodney Crowell]]
[[Category:Songs written by Rodney Crowell]]
[[Category:Songs produced by Paul Worley]]
[[Category:Songs produced by Paul Worley]]


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

Revision as of 02:24, 18 July 2011

"Long Hard Road"
Song

"Long Hard Road (The Sharecropper's Dream)" is the title of a song written by Rodney Crowell and recorded by American country music band The 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 Hot Country Singles chart.[1]

Content

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.

Chart positions

Chart (1984) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles 1
Canadian RPM Country Tracks 2

References

  1. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 249.
Preceded by Billboard Hot Country Singles number-one single
August 25, 1984
Succeeded by