Jim Dean Of Indiana Lyrics - Phil Ochs

It was on an Indiana farm, in the middle of the country 

Growin' in the fields of grain, Jim Dean of Indiana 

His mother died when he was a boy, his father was a stranger 

Marcus Winslow took him in, nobody seemed to want him 

The hired man sang like a storm [unverified], sometimes he'd beat him 

'Cause he would never do the chores, he was lost in dreaming 

He never seemed to find a play with the flatlands and the farmers 

So he had to leave one day, he said to be an actor 

Once he'd come back to the farm with starlets from the stages 

They locked themselves inside his room, the people turned their faces 

A neighbor ran from the movie house, chickens they were scattered 

He swore he saw upon the screen, Jim Dean of Indiana 

He played a boy without a home, torn with no tomorrow 

Reaching out to touch someone, a stranger in the shadow 

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 

He talked to them for half an hour but he was busy racing 

He left for the Grapevine Road 1, they left for Indiana 

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 

It was not until they reached the farm where the hired man was waiting 

The wind rushed silent through the grain, it was just as they had told him 

They buried him just down the road, a mile from the farm house 

That is where I placed a flower for Jim Dean of Indiana