Corn Lyrics – Shucked
Corn Lyrics
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:
Th?n the best idea H? 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 1400’s
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:
The way history is written
Jump into the first Thanksgiving
The Indians brought something
The called maize
STORYTELLER 2:
Around eleven-thirty
The pilgrims 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:
Doesn’t have to be that hard
When it’s written in the stars
Maybe love is like a seed
A little sun is all you need
A little rain, and so it goes
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:
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
COMPANY:
Bring it to a bris!
STORYTELLERS:
Or a wedding or a funeral!
Cook on the cob
Or in a tortilla
You can even make it an onomatopoeia
Candy corn, kettle corn, put it in your mouth
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!
Song Overview
Personal Review
“Corn” opens Shucked like a barn door in a stiff wind, and the lyrics double down on community mythmaking while winking at you the whole time. If you’re here for wordplay, tight ensemble singing, and country-Broadway sparkle, you’re in luck. Key takeaways: it establishes Cob County’s worldview, introduces Maizy and Beau with a sweet counter-melody, and declares the show’s comic contract - big-hearted, quick with jokes, never mean. One-sentence snapshot: a town so devoted to its crop that love, faith, and folklore all sprout from the same field.
Song Meaning and Annotations
At face value, “Corn” is a love letter to a crop. Underneath, it’s a map of identity. The number sketches Cob County with bright strokes - pride, ritual, and a touch of suspicion about the outside world. The groove blends two lanes: Nashville-leaning rhythm guitar and fiddle attitudes translated for a Broadway pit, then stacked with company harmonies that land like a small parade circling Main Street.
The emotional arc starts playful and stays buoyant, but there’s texture. The verses paint origin myths that escalate from biblical to frontier tall-tale. The tone: teasing, affectionate, and just curious enough to hint that walls can both protect and trap. When Maizy and Beau slip in with a tender tune inside the town anthem, the number loosens - the show lets romance breathe amid the corn-fed chant.
Cultural touchpoints matter here. The lyrics nod to Thanksgiving lore and the Columbian exchange, and they satirize textbook half-truths you probably memorized for a quiz you wanted to forget. It’s comic, yet it nudges you to see how communities narrate themselves.
Performance casting is part of the message, too. Storyteller 1 - played by Ashley D. Kelley - is a Black woman; that choice gently prods the stereotype of all-white rural spaces while the production keeps its ensemble multiracial. In other words, the staging invites a broader America into a very specific county line. (That sly remark later about oddly progressive Puritans? Same ethos, same smile.)
“Well, I bet you heard / If you ever read the word / Of the Good Book…”
Opening bars set the voice of authority - the town’s storytellers - and a bright, two-step pulse. The joke lands quickly: sacred origin story becomes snack-table theology, turning butter and bread into civic myth.
“Corn! / Yes, we said corn / Just as sure as the day that you were born.”
The hook functions like a pep-rally chant. Harmonies rise in thirds, the band punches the downbeats, and the lyric trades in place-making: a slogan, a handshake, a flag.
“Maybe love is like a seed / A little sun is all you need.”
Here the number softens, and the orchestration trims down so Maizy and Beau can carry a light duet. The motif ties romance to agriculture - growth as patient craft, not sudden miracle.
Creation history
Shucked traveled a winding road to Broadway, evolving from earlier country-comedy experiments and finding its shape with bookwriter Robert Horn and the songwriting team of Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally. Previews began March 8, 2023, and the show opened April 4 at the Nederlander Theatre, later completing its run in January 2024.
Verse Highlights
Verse 1
Set-up through mock-biblical imagery. The town defines itself by food and ritual; the joke is warm, never cruel. The pit leans on strummed strings and brushed percussion, creating a front-porch feel.
Chorus
Call-and-response writing lets the ensemble surge. It’s Broadway-tight but country-casual, giving the audience a chant they can hum by the exit doors.
Bridge
Maizy and Beau’s interlude blooms with a gentler melody and lighter accompaniment - story pauses for a heart check. Their lines tether community myth to personal hope.
Tag
The button reprises the town slogan, stacking harmonies until the final unison lands with a grin. It’s the welcome sign at the county border.
Key Facts
- Featured: Grey Henson, Caroline Innerbichler, Andrew Durand, Ashley D. Kelley.
- Producer: Jason Howland, Billy Jay Stein, Shane McAnally, Brandy Clark.
- Composer: Brandy Clark, Shane McAnally.
- Release Date: May 5, 2023.
- Genre: Broadway with country-pop inflections.
- Label: Masterworks Broadway.
- Mood: exuberant, communal, satirical.
- Length: 6:45.
- Track #: 2 on the cast album.
- Language: English.
- Album: Shucked (Original Broadway Cast Recording).
- Music style: country-Broadway fusion; ensemble anthem with romantic inset.
- © Copyrights: © 2023 Sony Music Entertainment; ? 2023 Sony Music Entertainment.
Questions and Answers
- Who wrote “Corn” for the Original Broadway Cast of Shucked?
- Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally wrote the music and lyrics.
- When was the track released?
- It arrived with the full cast album on May 5, 2023.
- Who produced the recording?
- Jason Howland, Billy Jay Stein, Shane McAnally, and Brandy Clark produced the album cut.
- Where does the number sit in the show?
- It’s the opener - the town anthem that sets up Cob County and threads in Maizy and Beau’s love story.
- How long is the track?
- About six minutes and forty-five seconds.
Awards and Chart Positions
The album’s release arrived as Shucked earned nine Tony Award nominations, including Best Musical, Best Book, and Best Original Score. The single itself isn’t a chart single in the pop sense, but as track 2 it anchors the cast recording’s identity during that awards surge.
Songs Exploring Themes of Small-Town Pride
“Oklahoma!” - Original Broadway Cast of Oklahoma! While older and brassier, this state-song-as-anthem plays a similar role: collective identity claimed in three minutes. Where “Corn” cracks jokes and folds in a lovers’ duet, “Oklahoma!” sells frontier optimism with open-fifth harmonies and strapping choral belts. Both numbers parade civic myth, but Shucked adds self-aware satire and modern punchlines.
“Iowa Stubborn” - Original Broadway Cast of The Music Man Meanwhile, Meredith Willson’s welcome mat is spiky by design. The town declares its quirks, rules, and resistance to change. “Corn” shares the community portrait impulse, but it’s sunnier; the groove swings country instead of barbershop-polka, and the jokes land with a wink rather than a wagging finger.
“Food, Glorious Food” - Original London Cast of Oliver! In contrast, this ensemble opener uses hunger to drive yearning. It’s culinary chorus as survival story. “Corn” celebrates plenty - abundance as identity. Put them side by side and you hear how a musical sets stakes through what a town sings about at the top of the night.