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Comments on How is the title of "Dust Bowl Dance" relevant to the song?

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How is the title of "Dust Bowl Dance" relevant to the song?

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I was introduced to the song "Dust Bowl Dance" by Mumford and Sons through this video, about the character Percy from Campaign 1 of the D&D show Critical Role (spoilers in video). The song fits so well it seems almost written about him.

Upon listening to the song, though, I'm not sure what the title "Dust Bowl Dance" has to do with the song. The song appears to be about revenge; what does the title have to do with that?

How is the title relevant to the song?

mumford-and-sons
posted about 2 years ago
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Mithical‭ staff
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Not really sure, but the site Song facts says:

The song title alludes to a severe drought that affected the South Western Great Plains region of the United States during the 1930s. The drought brought the arid region to its knees and turned it into a vast dust bowl. Thousands of farm families were forced to flee west and scratch a living anyway they could. Grapes of Wrath focuses on the Joads, a poor family of sharecroppers trapped in the Dust Bowl who set out for California seeking jobs, land and a future.

posted about 2 years ago
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further info (2 comments)
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Monica Cellio‭ wrote about 2 years ago
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Not only did families flee the area because they could no longer survive there, but many of them had debts and lost their homes and land to foreclosures. The Wikipedia article has a lot more information on both the agricultural and human costs of the droughts.

The song seems to be about a foreclosure case: the narrator was "kicked off my land" (as a teen orphan), has no way to make a living, and takes revenge on those he sees as responsible.

(Feel free to use any of this in an edit; I'm leaving a comment, not writing an answer, because you've already got the core of it here.)

Lundin‭ wrote about 2 years ago
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Sounds very similar to "The Ghost of Tom Joad" by Bruce Springsteen, also with the same theme, also with obvious references to Grapes of Wrath.