Down on Church Street there's an old man
With a sweet strum and a brown bag
He's still trying to write that song.
And the ponytail girls dream
In a warm wind from the gulf stream,
And the Cumberland just rolls along.

Oh Tennessee, I miss your sweet life,
I've been away so long.
Oh Tennessee, leave on the moonlight
I'm taking the back road home.

I saw this cat chill, out in Knoxville,
Cooking catfish on a black grill -
He was humming some Beale Street blues.
Every big game there's a tailgate,
And the churches line the Interstate,
And on Sunday they got real good news.

Chorus

By a Smoky Mountain cool spring
There's a tree rope where the kids swing -
To the sound of a distant train.
Old Wanda swears it ain't the wine
But she saw the ghost of Patsy Cline -
Laughing in the Broadway rain.