If I could go down now

While the whole town is sleeping

See the sun creeping up on the hill

I know the river and the railroad

Would run through the valley still



I guess it never was much to look at

Just a one-horse town 

The kind of place young people want to leave today

Store fronts pretty much boarded up

Main Street pretty much closed down



The church bell still rings on Sunday

Old folks still go

The young ones listen on the radio

Saturday night nothing but a stray dog running wild

Like nobody's child



And little by little, light after light

That's how it died

They say you never go home again 

That's no lie

Its like a letter in the mail

To a brother in jail

It's a matter of time

Until you can do a little bit better time



It used to be part of the heartland

Awful proud and strong

But deep, deep down peaceful and serene

When people used to talk about the country

That's what they used to mean



I might go down come the weekend 

Go on my own 

Drop off Annie and the baby 

Maybe drive alone

Pay my last respects to a time

That has all but gone



We said, Mama come look at the mountain

Fire in the sky

It's lit up like the Fourth of July

The mill burning down 

The jobs leaving town

The trains rolling by

And little by little, light after light

That's how it died

They say you never go home again

That's no lie

It's just a letter in the mail

To a brother in jail

It's a matter of time 

Until you can do a little bit better time