Tim Moore's Farm

Lighting Hopkins's version of the song "Tim Moore's Farm" influenced Gaines's perspective on the bonding system. In particular, he cites these lines as inspiration for Of Love and Dust: "You know Tim Moore's a man, he don't ever stand and grin. / He just said, 'keep out of the graveyard, I'll save you from the pen.'" The speaker of the song finds himself in a very similar situation as Marcus in the novel.