CFC
When I was a child my family would travel,
G7C
down to Western Kentucky where my parents were born
FC
And there's a backwards old town that's often remembered,
G7C
so many times that my memories are worn.
CFC
And daddy won't you take me back to Muhlenberg County,
G7C
down by the Green River where Paradise lay
FC
Well, I'm sorry my son, but you're too late in asking,
G7C
Mr. Peabody's coal train has hauled it away
CFC
Well, sometimes we'd travel right down the Green River,
G7C
to the abandoned old prison down by Adrie Hill
FC
Where the air smelled like snakes and we'd shoot with our pistols,
G7C
but empty pop bottles was all we would kill.
CFC
And daddy won't you take me back to Muhlenberg County,
G7C
down by the Green River where Paradise lay
FC
Well, I'm sorry my son, but you're too late in asking,
G7C
Mr. Peabody's coal train has hauled it away
CFC
Then the coal company came with the world's largest shovel,
G7C
and they tortured the timber and stripped all the land
FC
Well, they dug for their coal till the land was forsaken,
G7C
then they wrote it all down as the progress of man.
CFC
And daddy won't you take me back to Muhlenberg County,
G7C
down by the Green River where Paradise lay
FC
Well, I'm sorry my son, but you're too late in asking,
G7C
Mr. Peabody's coal train has hauled it away
CFC
When I die let my ashes float down the Green River,
G7C
let my soul roll on up to the Rochester dam
FC
I'll be halfway to Heaven with Paradise waitin',
G7C
just five miles away from wherever I am.
CFC
And daddy won't you take me back to Muhlenberg County,
G7C
down by the Green River where Paradise lay
FC
Well, I'm sorry my son, but you're too late in asking,
G7C
Mr. Peabody's coal train has hauled it away