Friday, March 20, 2009

West Virginia, Oh My Home.

Today I thought I'd post about what amounts to a love song that details the feelings that many West Virginians share with the land and people we love so much. This song was penned by none other than Grammy award winning singer/songwriter Hazel Dickens (and distant cousin of my wife Shirley), and in my opinion, this song is THE best song out there about West Virginia. It sums up why we stay here, and why we return. The song lyrics are posted amidst photo's of various generations of Shirley's family.

West Virginia, My Home
by Hazel Dickens.

West Virginia, Oh my home
West Virginia's where I belong




In the dead of the night
In the still and the quiet
I slip away like a bird in flight
Back to those hills, the place that I call home.



It's been years now since I left there
And this city life's about got the best of me



I can't remember why I left so free
What I wanted to do or what I wanted to see
But I can sure remember where I come from.





West Virginia, Oh my home
West Virginia's where I belong




In the dead of the night
In the still and the quiet
I slip away like a bird in flight
Back to those hills, the place that I call home.



Well I paid the price for the leavin'
And this life I have ain't the one I thought I'd find
Just let me live, love, let me cry
And when I go, just let me die
Among the friends who'll remember when I'm gone



West Virginia, Oh my home
West Virginia's where I belong
In the dead of the night
In the still and the quiet
I slip away like a bird in flight
Back to those hills, the place that I call home.



Home, home, home.




I can see it so clearly in my mind.



Home, home, home.



I can almost smell the honeysuckle vines.


In the dead of the night
In the still and the quiet
I slip away like a bird in flight



Back to those hills, the place that I call home.

Click here to go to Youtube and hear a version of West Virginia, My Home.

4 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for this, Matthew. It really touched my heart and made me long for home... the one that exists in my heart and mind as well as a physical place. Thank you.

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  2. Very good post, Matthew.

    "Some are drawn to the oceans
    and the taste of salty sea.
    My people were drawn to hills
    and here we will always be."

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  3. Who ISN'T related to Shirley? Since she married into our family, she tripled her cousin-ness!

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  4. Another first class post with the most awesome old photos. Enjoyed it immensely, thank you and I shall check out that link right away.

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