Guitar,Piano,Vocal,Voice - Level 4 - Digital Download SKU: A0.1427271 By Alabama. By Bob McDill. Arranged by John Fries. 20th Century,Country,Pop,Standards. Score. 3 pages. John Fries #1007989. Published by John Fries (A0.1427271). TYPE JOHN FRIES IN THE SEARCH BAR TO SEE ALL I HAVE TO OFFER. Thanks, John. The song tells the story of a poor Southern cotton farm-family during the Great Depression. Cotton on the roadside, cotton in the ditch. We all picked the cotton but we never got rich. Well, somebody told us Wall Street fell, but we was so poor that we couldn't tell. The song references President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal.