Radio Paradise (mobile)

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

gvan Mar 07, 2013 - 10:04	Anybody who lives around the new "Oil and Gas Boom" knows how relevant this song is today. [ Reply ]
JHZ Feb 04, 2013 - 02:11	Not boring, classic! I have to go with a 10, especially just seeing that the f*+§%ing Eagles are next! [ Reply ]
clydes Jan 03, 2013 - 18:06	A rather boring version of a good song. Bill - how about playing the Hamilton County Bluegrass Band's version instead? [ Reply ]
dirtbagpook Dec 03, 2012 - 09:16	A really wonderful album that still stands up after all these years. Hello In There is a great Christmas song actually. [ Reply ]
drictor Oct 01, 2012 - 14:58	For a song that's not musically complex, it is so, so, so good. I've loved it for many a year. Thanks for playing it... [ Reply ]
hschlossberg Oct 01, 2012 - 14:58	CamLwalk wrote: Who is rating this with ones and twos? What is wrong with you?? I just came here to give it a one and found that I already had at some point. Someone mentioned the great lyrics, but it's hard to listen to lyrics when the music is so boring, repetitive, and twangy. His voice is as grating as Bob Dylan's. [ Reply ]
cc_rider Oct 01, 2012 - 14:56	Grammarcop wrote: As you probably know, this song is about a fictitious town in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, and the damage coal mining did to the landscape, rivers and people. I recently took a drive through Kentucky and was appalled to see "Friends of Coal" vanity license plates on several cars. Not fictitious. Paradise was a real town. I think it is gone now. We just saw Mr. Prine in concert this week. Wonderful as always. This was his encore, with Alejandro Escovedo singing a verse. [ Reply ]
Grammarcop Jul 30, 2012 - 16:42	As you probably know, this song is about a fictitious town in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, and the damage coal mining did to the landscape, rivers and people. I recently took a drive through Kentucky and was appalled to see "Friends of Coal" vanity license plates on several cars. [ Reply ]
Jeff09 Jul 30, 2012 - 16:07	What an amazing album... [ Reply ]
gypsyman Jul 30, 2012 - 16:07	And you may see me tonight, with an illegal smile... [ Reply ]
Proclivities Jun 29, 2012 - 05:54	Stratocaster wrote: All I can hear is "Dear Abby, Dear Abby". A little more imagination, please. Heaven forbid John Prine not being imaginative enough to your liking. It's written in a traditional bluegrass style - there's not really room for minor 9th chords. It's more about the lyrics, anyhow. [ Reply ]
luvinlife Jun 29, 2012 - 05:43	luvin it... [ Reply ]
CamLwalk Jun 29, 2012 - 05:42	Who is rating this with ones and twos? What is wrong with you?? [ Reply ]
Dahlia_Gumbo May 28, 2012 - 08:27	I guess I was speechless. Love this. [ Reply ]
Dahlia_Gumbo May 28, 2012 - 08:26	[ Reply ]
cc_rider Apr 26, 2012 - 14:53	LongGoneDaddy wrote: Yeah, everything still exists, EXCEPT the coal shovel! I remember seeing that monstrosity long ago. There's a sign marking what used to be Paradise, but this is still considered a "town" in Muhlenberg Co as long as someone remembers it; life in small town W'ern KY is still very old school. The strip mines poisoned the water, copperheads ruled the barren ground, and every spring some unfortunate teenager would meet their demise from a drowning in the ever so deep strip pits. Now the area hosts some small trees and lots of deer, among a wide variety of invasive species. The "justification" of the coal industry is still a major debate in KY, now centered around mountain top removal, but back then it was strip mining. Regardless, nothing will change until we come to terms with our fossil fuel addictions. Thank you. I've always loved this song. [ Reply ]
arserocket Apr 26, 2012 - 14:52	thank you Bill for this [ Reply ]
Stratocaster Jan 22, 2012 - 12:38	All I can hear is "Dear Abby, Dear Abby". A little more imagination, please. [ Reply ]
Stranglersfan Dec 21, 2011 - 18:18	10 Yes 10. John Prine is Godlike to me. [ Reply ]
LongGoneDaddy Oct 19, 2011 - 11:09	cc_rider wrote: Gotta be my fave JP song. Turns out it's a true story, every place existed. Until Peabody Coal destroyed it, at least. Mr. Prine was persona non grata in KY back when this song came out. Not so much now though. Yeah, everything still exists, EXCEPT the coal shovel! I remember seeing that monstrosity long ago. There's a sign marking what used to be Paradise, but this is still considered a "town" in Muhlenberg Co as long as someone remembers it; life in small town W'ern KY is still very old school. The strip mines poisoned the water, copperheads ruled the barren ground, and every spring some unfortunate teenager would meet their demise from a drowning in the ever so deep strip pits. Now the area hosts some small trees and lots of deer, among a wide variety of invasive species. The "justification" of the coal industry is still a major debate in KY, now centered around mountain top removal, but back then it was strip mining. Regardless, nothing will change until we come to terms with our fossil fuel addictions. [ Reply ]