Tecumseh Valley

 

The name she gave was Caroline

The daughter of a miner

And her ways were free and it seemed to me

The sunshine walked beside her

 

She come from Spencer, across the hill

She said her pa had sent her

“Cause the coal was low and soon the snow

Would turn them skies to winter

 

She said she’d come to look for work

She was not seeking favors

For a dime a day and a place to stay

She’s put them hands to labor

 

But times were hard and jobs were few

Throughout Tecumseh Valley

But she asked around, and a job she found

Tending bar for Gypsy Sally

 

She saved enough to get back home

When the spring replaced the winter

But her dreams were denied, her pa had died

Word come down from Spencer

 

She took to whoring out on the street

With all the lust insider her

And many a man returned again

Just to lay himself beside her

 

 

 

 

They found her down beneath the stairs

That lead to Gypsy Sally’s

In her hand when she died was a note that cried

Fare thee well Tecumseh Valley

 

The name she gave was Caroline

The daughter of a miner

And her ways were free and it seemed to me

The sunshine walked beside her

 

Words and music by Townes Van Zandt

 

David - guitar and lead vocal

Jay Byrd - backing vocal

Jim Robeson - backing vocal

 

David’s guitar and vocal recorded on an Edirol hand-held digital recorder; backing vocals recorded by Jim at The Bar.