I said, “Have we sinned for something we don’t know about? Does hunger have a lesson to teach?” As the silver moon shined like a pearl of great price Driftin’ over our heads out of reach Someone said,” In California every which way you turn You can pluck a fat orange from a tree And there’s plenty of work And good wages to earn And an end to our misery”
Then the coyotes cried “Hooverville!” And the lonesome wind sighed “Hooverville” And the pearl moon tried To turn the tide But those voices still cried “Hooverville! Hooverville!”
I said, “It’s wisest to cross the desert by night So’s we best be leavin’ soon” Ma said, “But our jalopy won’t start and I’m losin’ heart This place could become our tomb” And the great pearl drifted in the western sky Then weakened in the first light of dawn We worked under the hood But it did us no good And the moon she kept rolling along
Then the coyotes cried “Hooverville!” And the lonesome wind sighed “Hooverville” And the pearl moon tried To turn the tide But those voices still cried “Hooverville! Hooverville!”
We vowed to stay strong when she took ghostly form And the phantom moon faded away Vanished in the fire of the harshest of suns And the heat of those ruinous days Then we prayed she’d come back and believed in the chances That old engine would crank back into life And we’d catch that moon tangled in those orange tree branches And lay hold of the pearl of great price
Then the night came again “Hooverville!” Sighed the lonesome wind “Hooverville” Again the moon tried To turn the tide But our babies died And all of us cried “Hooverville! Hooverville!”
And our babies died And our babies died And our babies died