West Virginia
————-
Verse 1
D
The lot is littered with oil and glass
G
Just a night ago the speaker’s blasted
A
A West Virginia girl who liked to hop trains
D
Is trying to manage all the morning pain
D
Depleting everything, a soul bereft
G
A little residue is all that’s left
A
I saw her at Red Rocks in ninety nine
D
She swore she was and would always be fine
F C G
CHORUS
F C F. C
Take me up to Nassau up to Uniondale
F C G
The last time I was there was off the rails
F C
Way before Katrina
F C
Down at Tipatina’s
F C G
That’s where she first learned how to sail
F C
Take me to the river
F C
We can jump the levee
F C. G
Hope that we both live to tell the tale
—-
Verse 2
D
They used to not bother with girls like her
G
She’d just look pretty and call them sir
A D
But nowadays they’ve fully changed the game
D
West Virginia was sweet but she was never clean
G
A higher spirit I’ve never seen
A. D
I never even knew her original family name
D
I sure wanted to have her when I saw her dance
G
But I never made a move in my clumsy trance
A D
It’s probably for the best considering all that came
F. C. G
Chorus
—-
Verse 3
D
She was trucking along in the side show
G
They started cracking down and gave her a blow
A D
Picked up a case of intent to spread it around
D
Well she couldn’t make court she was making the shows
G
Kansas City would just have to know
A D
She had no intent to come back to their town
(Pick up tempo)
D
She was on I-10 when she got the news
G
Headed to the Varsity in Baton Rouge
A D
Searched the van now she’s got another charge
D
It’s quite a shame cause with the fta
G.
She’s gone back to Missouri crying all the way
A D
Cause West Virginia she don’t look good in Orange
F. C. G
Chorus
Comments
-
I like the specificity of it, the place names, and references to Katrina etc. Makes it feel grounded and real.
But I find it hard to connect with. It may just be because I'm not from that area, but it feels like something written for you as the songwriter rather than written for an audience. Perhaps try to get more emotion into it? There's a series of events unfolding, but I'm not sure how I'm meant to feel about them.
1 -
Hey there.... you have a great country bar voice. Love the song, and now all I can recommend is to get yourself a nice cowboy hat.
The look is important, too!
0 -
I like the lyric a lot, especially the verses. Took me a moment or two to realize West Virginia was a girl. just the right amount of figuring out to make it more enjoyable.
My only suggestion concerns what I felt was a slight disconnect between the verse and the chorus, both lyrically and musically. The chorus felt like it needed a little more variation and it didn't seem to add anything to the story or tell us anything more about her.
I like this kind of song. The melody is so good for telling a story. Reminded me strongly of Charlie Daniels' "Uneasy Rider."
0 -
I think this a great song. It could do with some proper production. I can imagine how it might sound with a few instruments..nothing over the top. As it is, it's a cool demo. Nice to see the basic chords there too.😀
0
Howdy, Stranger!