The Ginsangers | Lyrics

THESE HILLS

1. MOUNTAINEERS ARE ALWAYS FREE>

© Mike Morningstar, Mp Productions

I was born a West Virginian
My family roots branch through this state 
My Grandma lies beside her mother
In that cold Wirt County slate

Ever since I was a little baby
I’ve been livin’ in these hills
And I’ve been playin in these waters
Before I’d see it gone I’d rather kill

Chorus:
Don’t take these hills, don’t change these waters
Always let their beauty be 
As long as we have got our homeland 
Mountaineers are always free

I was raised by the Ohio River
But the woodland streams I dearly love
I’d walk barefoot in their clear waters 
With those silent skies above

I’ve always loved the rolling mountains
The Indian Hen and the hollow beech
The sweetest paw paw and persimmon
Hangin’ only out of reach

Chorus

Well my Grandad worked on the farm and railroad
My Daddy the farm and the factory 
Lord if I lose this land I live on 
Where in God’s name would my children be

I hear you speak the words of progress 
In those shattered hills that lie
Like broken bones, teeth of the mountains
Grinning at your smoke filled skies

Chorus

When I see her beauty sometimes I wonder
Of her beauty gone before 
But the West Virginia of my Grandad
I know it’s gone forevermore

So when I’m gone and long forgotten
When my grandchildren have grown old
May the ancient hills of West Virginia
Remain as young as they are old

Chorus

2. SUMMER NIGHT

© LeeAnn Gallucci

Round a campfire with friends on a summer night
Now we hate to leave ‘cause it feels so right
A guitar plays soft and the fire burns low
But the baby’s asleep and it’s time to go

So the kids ride home in the pick up bed
With our old black dog runnin’ up ahead
In the patch of light from the headlight’s glare
While our engine’s hum fills the evening air

Where our driveway ends we pull up and park 
In the sudden, silent, satin dark
Hear the peepers call from across the hill
And the plaintiff cry of the whippoorwill

See the mating flash of the fireflies
While a distant storm lightens up the sky
All the shimmering leaves of the sycamore trees
Dance their midnight waltz in the growing breeze

It’s time like these that will end too soon
So we sit outside and watch the waning moon
Till the clouds roll in and we feel the sting
Of the first fine drops of the welcome rain

What the years will bring we can never know
Maybe tears will fall maybe hope will grow
But the passing days cannot steal from me
These precious hours I have spent with thee

3. KILLING THE BLUES

©Rowland Jon Salley

Leaves were falling just like embers 
In colors red and gold they set us on fire
Burning just like a moonbeam in our eyes
Somebody said they saw me swingin’ the world by the tail
Jumpin’ over a white cloud killing the blues

Now I am guilty of something 
I hope you never do because there is nothin’ 
Sadder than losin’ yourself in love
Somebody said they saw me 
Swingin’ the world by the tail
Bouncin’ over a white cloud 
Killing the Blues

Then you ask me just to leave you
To set out on my own and give what I need to 
You want me to find what I’ve already had
Somebody said they saw me 
Swingin’ the world by the tail
Bouncin’ over a white cloud
Killing the blues

4.THESE HILLS

© Iris DeMent, Songs Of Iris/Forerunner Music Inc., ASCAP

From far away I’ve traveled
To stand once more alone
And hear my memories echo 
Through these hills that I call home
And the wind is rushing through the valley

As a child I roamed this valley
I watched the seasons come and go
I spent many hours dreaming 
On these hills that I call home

Chorus:
The wind is rushing through the valley
And I don’t feel so all alone
When I see the dandelions blowing
Across the hills that I call home

Like the flowers I am fading
Into my setting sun
Brother and sister passed before me
Mama and Daddy have long since gone

Chorus

5. OLD CAT BLUES

© 1999 C. Townsend & D. Parker, Wild GinSang Music, BMI

Chorus:
When old cats fly, I’ll say goodbye
And watch you go in the moonlight
These were the words you once said to me
I guess one old cat just grew his wings

Why did you leave me to cry these tears alone?
You weren’t careful with my love couldn’t get you on the phone
I found your letter sayin’ goodbye
You said “It’s all over now, no use to try”

Why did you treat me with such disregard?
I gave you all of my lovin’ even when times were hard
All of those sweet things you said to me
Tell me now baby did you really mean anything?

Chorus

6. LIKE A FOOL AGAIN

© 1999 C. Townsend & D. Parker, Wild GinSang Music, BMI

Lately I’ve been thinking
Sometimes I wonder
Why I ever let you in so close to my heart.
You and I were friends
When I was trying to mend
Pieces of one more broken dream.

Chorus
Now I can’t help this feeling like a fool again.
You’d think I’d know by now 
That love comes and goes like the wind.

Now it seems that you don’t want to talk to me
That’s all right I think I understand.
When pride is in the way the words are hard to say.
Anyway, that’s how it seems to me.

Chorus

You know I could go on wishing that you were here with me,
But then I know that wishing don’t change a thing.
Someday baby we might be friends,
But right all I feel is my heart breaking again.

Chorus

Chorus

7. LITTLE LOVE AFFAIRS

© Nanci Griffith/James Hooker Wing and Wheel Music, ASCAP

When I wake in the night and find that I’m dreaming
You’re the first thought in mind
Love’s a fair weather friend when you’re lonely
You are my summer state of mind

Does it sing to you nightly?
Does it lay down beside you?
Does it make you hear songs on the radio?
It once was my shadow grown weary of travel
Till you gave it a home

What makes the love grow when the seasons change?
What makes the love grow? 
It’s simple it comes and it grows on its own


Does it sing to you nightly?
Does it lay down beside you?
Does it make you hear songs on the radio?
It once was my shadow grown weary of travel
Till you gave it a home

8. DO YOU EVER MISS ME

© 1999 C. Townsend & D. Parker, Wild GinSang Music, BMI

Do you ever miss me my darlin’?
Do you ever think of me sometimes?
Remember when we sat on the rooftop
And you first laid your hand in mine.

We were looking for shooting stars
And the warm summer breeze felt so fine.
When the clouds rolled in and darkened the night
That’s when I saw the light in your eyes.

Now I don’t know where our love’s going.
You say we should live day to day,
But I feel so fragile since you’ve been gone
You know it feels like I can’t go on.

You asked me to wait for you darlin’.
You want to make sure our love’s true.
I’m here believing that you’re still the one.
No one can make me feel like you do.

Bridge:
Last night I dreamed you were here with me
Holding me close to your heart.
You whispered we’d soon be together
And even death would not keep us apart.

Repeat 1st Verse

9. THE FOGGY DEW

(Traditional)

'Twas down the glen one Easter morn
To a city fair rode I.
There armed lines of marching men
In squadrons passed me by.
No pipe did hum; no battle drum
Did sound its loud tattoo
But the Angelus bells o'er the Liffey's swells
Rang out in the foggy dew.
Right proudly high in Dublin town
Hung they out the flag of war.
'Twas better to die 'neath an Irish sky
Than at Suvla or Sud el Bar.
And from the plains of Royal Meath
Strong men came hurrying through;
While Britannia's sons with their long-range guns
Sailed in through the foggy dew.
'Twas England bade our Wild Geese go
That small nations might be free
But their lonely graves are by Suvla's waves
or the fringe of the grey North Sea
But had they died by Pearse's side,
or had fought with Valera true
Their graves we'd keep where the Fenians sleep,
'neath the shroud of the Foggy Dew.
The bravest fell, and the requiem bell
Rang mournfully and clear
For those who died that Eastertide
In the springing of the year
And the world did gaze, in deep amaze,
At those fearless men but few
Who bore the fight that freedom's light
Might shine through the Foggy Dew.
And down the glen I rode again,
And my heart would grieve full sore
For I parted then with valiant men
Whom I never shall see more
But to and fro in my dreams I go
As I'd kneel and pray for you
For slavery fled, out of glorious dread,
When you fell in the Foggy Dew.

10. HE MOVED THROUGH THE FAIR

(Traditional)

My own love said to me
My mother won’t mind
And my father won’t slight you
For your lack of kind
He went away from me
And this he did say
It will not be long love
Till our wedding day

He went away from me
And he moved through the fair
And slowly I watched him
Move here and move there
He made his way homeward
With one star awake
As the swan in the evening
Moves over the lake

I dreamed last night
That my own love came in
He came in so sweetly
His feet made no din
He came close beside me
And this he did say
It will not be long love
Till our wedding day