Paradise
Paradise

Sturgill Simpson - Paradise Lyrics

Sturgill Simpson's poignant lyrics capture the lament of environmental degradation and lost heritage. The song narrates a childhood memory of visiting Western Kentucky, an area now ravaged by coal mining. The recurring plea to return to Muhlenberg County… Read more

Apr 30, 2021
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Paradise Music Video

Paradise Lyrics

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 Muhlenberg County
Down by the green river where paradise lay?
Well, I'm sorry my son, but you're too late in asking
Mister 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 Adrie Hill
Where the air smelled like snakes and we'd shoot with our pistols
But empty pop bottles was all we would kill

And daddy won't you take me back to Muhlenberg County
Down by the green river where paradise lay?
Well, I'm sorry my son, but you're too late in asking
Mister Peabody's coal train has hauled it away

Then 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 'til the land was forsaken
Then they wrote it all down as the progress of man

And daddy won't you take me back to Muhlenberg County
Down by the green river where paradise lay?
Well, I'm sorry my son, but you're too late in asking
Mister 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 waitin'
Just five miles away from wherever I am

And daddy won't you take me back to Muhlenberg County
Down by the green river where paradise lay?
Well, I'm sorry my son, but you're too late in asking
Mister Peabody's coal train has hauled it away
Mister Peabody's coal train has hauled it away
Mister Peabody's coal train has hauled it away

Writer(s): John Prine
Copyright(s): Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Royalty Network, Spirit Music Group, Songtrust Ave, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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What is the Meaning of Paradise?

Sturgill Simpson's poignant lyrics capture the lament of environmental degradation and lost heritage. The song narrates a childhood memory of visiting Western Kentucky, an area now ravaged by coal mining. The recurring plea to return to Muhlenberg County symbolizes a yearning for a simpler, unspoiled past. However, the father's repeated response underscores the irreversible damage inflicted by industrial progress—specifically, Mister Peabody's coal train. The imagery of "tortured timber" and "stripped land" conveys deep ecological loss, while the final verse envisions a posthumous reunion with nature, highlighting a spiritual connection to the land despite its physical desolation. This narrative serves as both an elegy for a lost paradise and a critique of unchecked industrialization.

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