In 1930, Arthur Fields and Fred Hall recorded a song about the futuristic world of 1992. And, if you can believe it, they didn’t mention a single grunge band. Not even once.
No Soundgarden. No Nirvana. These supposedly future-minded charlatans didn’t even give a passing mention to Eddie Vedder.
Then what were these guys yammering about? Zipping halfway around the world in an hour and a half, alcohol prohibition, and financial assistance for the nation’s struggling farmers. What a buncha nonsense.
I just read a story, and if that story’s true
Here are the things that are gonna happen in 1992
If you all wanna travel, that won’t be hard to do
We’ll get to Spain in an hour and a half in 1992
In 1992, In 1992
You’ll get to Spain in an hour and a half in 1992
You’ll start to go a-fishin’ with just a worm or two
The fish will jump right in your boat
And tell ya “Howdya do”
But ya bet yer bottom dollar, if what I hear is true
We’ll still be cryin’ for farm relief in 1992
In 1992, In 1992
We’ll still be cryin’ for farm relief in 1992
In 1992, In 1992
We’ll still be making liquor in 1992
The song was covered and adapted by Vernon Dalhart (probably later in the 1930s) who added verses about meal pills. But again, no grunge music. What a crock.
What a funny old world this world will be in 1992
And when we want our dinner
A steak or barbecue
We’ll eat a red or little green pill
and say, “Well, now I’m through”
We’ll still have people tell us
what we ought not to do
But we’ll still be making liquor in 1992
The rooster will crow louder
each morn at half past four
The hens will lay a two pound egg
and maybe two or more
The cows will give ten gallons a day
but what good will that do?
They will still be waterin’ all the milk in 1992
In 1992, In 1992
What a funny old world this world will be in 1992
Oh, the corn will grow much higher
and the wheat and cotton, too
We’ll never have to push a plow in 1992
We’ll plant the corn and cotton
That’s what we’ll have to do
But the crows will still have an appetite in 1992
Your mule won’t be so stubborn
and won’t be half so slow
He’ll turn around and look at you
and say, “Come on, let’s go”
But the mule I got down on the farm
sticks there as fast as glue
and I think he’ll still be standin’ there in 1992
In 1992, In 1992
What a funny old world this world will be in 1992
Thanks to Nathan Jurgenson for a reminder about the existence of this song.