Paul Harvey – The Man and the Voice Behind the Message

Feb 05, 2013

Legendary Radio Personality Lends His Voice for Super Bowl Commercial

On the heels of one of the greatest football games to ever be played at the Super Bowl, the agriculture community is still basking in the glow of the Ram Truck commercial featured during the game - simply called “Farmer”, which paid tribute to American farmers. The commercial used stunning images of farmers, ranchers, and rural American landscapes, but it was the booming voice and gracious words from legendary radio broadcaster and personality Paul Harvey (1918-2009) that really stole the show.

Harvey, whose full name is Paul Harvey Aurandt, was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma on September 4, 1918. The son of a police officer, Paul grew up to become one of the most recognized radio voices in America. Known for his right-wing political stances on large government, the death penalty, God, and of course his famous “rest of the story” segments. Paul Harvey delivered a speech to the Future Farmers of America (FFA) called “So God Made a Farmer” and it was this speech that was used by Ram in their ‘Farmer’ commercial at Super Bowl XLVII in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Harvey’s iconic voice and poignant words resonated across the country on Super Bowl night – a moving tribute to America’s farming legacy and the great people from coast to coast that make it happen every day. Although the advertisement itself is for Ram trucks, people were so taken in by the commercial as it generated nostalgia from the historic farming roots we all share.

While controversial in many regards, Harvey sought to bring awareness to agriculture and the hardworking men and women who practice it. Many in the agriculture community are dismayed by the fact that Harvey was an animal rights activist and supporter of the Humane Society, but recognize he was also a champion for rural Americans. Harvey died on February 28, 2009 in Phoenix, Arizona at the age of 90, but his words continue to inspire millions.

Check out Paul Harvey’s full speech transcript “So God Made a Farmer” below and be sure to watch the amazing video tribute from Ram if you haven’t already seen it:

“And on the 8th day, God looked down on his planned paradise and said, “I need a caretaker.” So God made a farmer.

God said, “I need somebody willing to get up before dawn, milk cows, work all day in the fields, milk cows again, eat supper and then go to town and stay past midnight at a meeting of the school board.” So God made a farmer.

“I need somebody with arms strong enough to rustle a calf and yet gentle enough to deliver his own grandchild. Somebody to call hogs, tame cantankerous machinery, come home hungry, have to wait lunch until his wife’s done feeding visiting ladies and tell the ladies to be sure and come back real soon — and mean it.” So God made a farmer.

God said, “I need somebody willing to sit up all night with a newborn colt. And watch it die. Then dry his eyes and say, ‘Maybe next year.’ I need somebody who can shape an ax handle from a persimmon sprout, shoe a horse with a hunk of car tire, who can make harness out of haywire, feed sacks and shoe scraps. And who, planting time and harvest season, will finish his forty-hour week by Tuesday noon, then, pain’n from ‘tractor back,’ put in another seventy-two hours.” So God made a farmer.

God had to have somebody willing to ride the ruts at double speed to get the hay in ahead of the rain clouds and yet stop in mid-field and race to help when he sees the first smoke from a neighbor’s place. So God made a farmer.

God said, “I need somebody strong enough to clear trees and heave bails, yet gentle enough to tame lambs and wean pigs and tend the pink-combed pullets, who will stop his mower for an hour to splint the broken leg of a meadow lark. It had to be somebody who’d plow deep and straight and not cut corners. Somebody to seed, weed, feed, breed and rake and disc and plow and plant and tie the fleece and strain the milk and replenish the self-feeder and finish a hard week’s work with a five-mile drive to church.

“Somebody who’d bale a family together with the soft strong bonds of sharing, who would laugh and then sigh, and then reply, with smiling eyes, when his son says he wants to spend his life ‘doing what dad does.’” So God made a farmer.”