Jason Howland
Corn
[STORYTELLER 1]
Well, I bet you heard
If you ever read the word
Of the Good Book, it took God
Seven days to make the Earth

[STORYTELLER 2]
And he made the moon and stars
And the sun out of gold
But there's one part of the story
That's very seldom told

[STORYTELLER 1]
You see, He took a little cow
And He made a little udder

[STORYTELLER 2]
Squeezed a little milk
And He made a little butter

[STORYTELLER 1]
He laid out a little spread

[STORYTELLER 2]
Then He broke a little bread
[BOTH]
Thеn the best idea Hе ever had
Popped into His head

Corn!
Yes, we said corn
Just as sure as the day that you were born
In the evening, it's for supper
Then it's grits in the morn
No, it ain't our bread that's buttered
No, it's corn

[STORYTELLER 1, spoken]
We're here to tell you a fable

[STORYTELLER 2, spoken]
A farm-to-fable

[STORYTELLER 1, spoken]
Ooh!
About a simple place time forgot

[STORYTELLER 2, spoken]
Called Cob County

[STORYTELLER 1, spoken]
Now, I know when some of you think "small towns"
You think gun-toting rusted-truck hay seeds
Who think liberal is how you pour your whiskey
And fluid belongs in your gas tank
But I want you to open your minds
And think even smaller!
[STORYTELLER 2, spoken]
Somewhere north of south and south of north
To a place where being from somewhere is who you are

[STORYTELLER 1, spoken]
Filled with people no different from you or me
Well, more you

[STORYTELLER 2, spoken]
Proud, simple people
Who, more than anything, loved their corn!

[STORYTELLER 1]
They say it came from Mexico
Some seven-thousand years ago

[STORYTELLER 2]
Somewhere between right now and dinosaurs

[STORYTELLER 1]
Cut to the 1400s

[STORYTELLER 2]
Christopher Columbus
Brought syphilis and smallpox to the shore
[BOTH]
And took credit for

[COMPANY]
Corn!
I'm talking corn
When it's popping up in rows
It's just like Norman Rockwell
Had a fresh new hand
And saw the technicolor morn
It's Kentucky and it's Kansas
Yeah, it's corn

[STORYTELLER 1, spoken]
It grew everywhere in tall proud rows! Corn rows!

[STORYTELLER 2, spoken]
O-krrrrr!

[STORYTELLER 1, spoken]
Nuh-uh, don't do that!

[STORYTELLER 2, spoken]
Okay.​

[STORYTELLER 1, spoken]
It popped up on every property line.​

[STORYTELLER 2, spoken]
Forming a huge corn wall that completely surrounded the town.​

[STORYTELLER 1, spoken]
Because of that, no one had ever left or come to Cob County.​

[STORYTELLER 2, spoken]
Oh, they knew of the outside world. They just wanted no part of it.​

[STORYTELLER 1 & (ENSEMBLE)]
The way history is written (History)
Jump into the first Thanksgiving (First Thanksgiving)
The Indians brought something (Indians)
They called maize (Ah, maize!)

[STORYTELLER 2 & (ENSEMBLE)]
Around eleven-thirty (Eleven-thirty)
The pilgrims stuffed a turkey (Stuffed a turkey)
Slipped into a tryptophanic haze

[COMPANY]
With leftovers for days and days

Of corn!
Yeah, I heard corn
Got us through the Great Depression and the storms

[STORYTELLER 2]
They turned it into alcohol!

[STORYTELLER 1]
Yeah, that's my favorite form!

[COMPANY]
It's mazola and it's ethanol
It's corn!

We were corn-bred, we were corn-fed
Out here, we really feel like we were chosen
We love corn flakes, we love corn cakes
Don't know where we would be without that golden corn

[STORYTELLER 1, spoken]
And on this day, vows were written
For a wedding that almost didn't happen

[MAIZY]
Maybe love is like a dream
A couple vows, a couple rings

[BEAU]
It's a promise that you make
That two hearts will never break

[MAIZY]
Maybe love is like a song

[BEAU]
All at once, you sing along

[MAIZY, BEAU & (ENSEMBLE)]
Doesn't have to be that hard
When it's written in the stars
Maybe love is like a seed (Maybe love)
A little sun is all you need (All you need)
A little rain, and so it goes (A little rain)

[COMPANY]
It grows and grows in rows and rows from dust

[MAIZY & BEAU]
Maybe love just need a little…

[STORYTELLER 1]
Sweet corn, street corn

[STORYTELLER 2]
It's really hard to beat corn

[STORYTELLER 1]
Hands or feet, no wrong way to eat corn

[STORYTELLER 2]
It's a resource that’s always renewable

[STORYTELLER 1]
Bring it to a bris

[STORYTELLER 2]
Or a wedding

[BOTH]
Or a funeral!

[STORYTELLER 2]
Cook on the cob

[STORYTELLER 1]
Or in a tortilla

[STORYTELLER 2]
You can even make it an onomatopoeia

[STORYTELLER 1]
Candy corn, kettle corn, put it in your mouth

[STORYTELLERS & (ENSEMBLE)]
It's the same going in coming out

Sweet corn, street corn (Oh)
It's really hard to beat corn
Hands or feet, no wrong way to eat corn (Oh)
It's a resource that's always renewable (Oh)

[COMPANY]
Bring it to a bris!

[STORYTELLERS & (ENSEMBLE)]
Or a wedding or a funeral!
Cook on the cob (Oh)
Or in a tortilla
You can even make it an onomatopoeia (You, make, ah, pe)
Candy corn, kettle corn, put it in your mouth (Oh)

[COMPANY]
It's the same going in coming out

Sweet corn, street corn
It's really hard to beat corn
Hands or feet, no wrong way to eat corn
It's a resource that’s always renewable

[STORYTELLER 1]
Bring it to a bris!

[STORYTELLER 2, spoken]
God!

[COMPANY]
It's got the juice!

Sweet, street, hands, feet
Cook it, pop it, baby, bris
Ashes to ashes and dust into dust
We give to the corn cause the corn gives to us

Corn!
All kinds of corn
It's our living

[STORYTELLER 1]
It's our

[COMPANY]
Loving!

[STORYTELLER 1]
It's our corn!

[COMPANY]
And when we go right on up to Heaven
We won't need to mourn
Just as long as the streets are paved with corn
When we get to Heaven
We won't need to mourn
Just as long as those streets are paved with corn!
Corn!
Corn!