Tecumseh Valley - Nanci Griffith

The name she gave was Caroline

Daughter of a miner

And her ways were free and it seemed to me

The sunshine walked beside her

She came to Spencer 'cross the hill

She said her Pa had sent her

'Cause the coal was low and soon the snow

Would turn the skies to winter

She said she’d come to look for work

She was not seeking favors

But for a dime a day and a place to stay

She’d turn those hands to labor

But the times were hard, Lord, the jobs were few

All through Tecumseh Valley

But she asked around and a job she found

Tending bar for Gypsy Sally

She saved enough to get back home

When spring replaced the winter

But her dreams were denied, her pa had died

The word come down from Spencer

So she turned to whorin' out on the streets

With all the lust inside her

And it was many a man returned again

To lay himself beside her

They found her down beneath the stairs

That led to Gypsy Sally’s

And in her hand when she died

Was a note that cried

«Fare thee well, Tecumseh Valley.»

Repeat first verse