On the 14th day of April in 1935,
there struck the worst of dust storms
that ever filled the sky.
The radio reported we listened with alarm
To the wild and windy actions
of that great mysterious storm.
From Denver, Colorado,
they said it blew so strong
They thought that they could hold out
but they didn't know how long
From Oklahoma City to
the Colorado line
Dakota and Nebraska
to the lazy Rio Grande
In old Dodge City, Kansas,
the dust had rung their nail
And a few old comrades
sleeping on top of Old Foothill
And now the Kirk and Clovis
and all New Mexico,
They said it was the blackest
that ever they had saw.
You could see that dust storm coming,
the cloud looked death like black,
And through our mighty nation
it left a terrible track,
Our family they was huddled
into their old boom shacks,
And the children they were crying
as it whistled through the cracks,
And the children they were huddled
into their little room
we thought it was our judgment
we thought it was our doom
the storm took place at sundown
it lasted through the night
when we went out next morning
we saw a terrible sight
When we outside our windows,
where wheat fields once had grown,
Was now a rippling ocean
of dust the wind had blown.
It covered up our fences,
it covered up our barns,
It covered up our tractors
in this wild mysterious storm.
We loaded our jalopies
and piled our families in
We rattled down that highway
to never come back again