Down Where the Mountain Used to Stand

from People, Places, Things by Butch Ross

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about

This is a song about Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining. I initially wrote this as an entry to a songwriting contest that was based in West Virginia. It didn’t win, so I forgot about it until 2011, when I did a show called “scratch my back” where I covered songs of my favorite local artists, and they did the same with my songs. My piano-playing, storytelling, conservationist friend Jim Pfitzer played this tune really slow, and I fell in love with it again. I didn’t realize it at the time, but it’s pretty much the biography of Maria Gunnoe, a reluctant environmentalist from West Virginia.

lyrics

My grandpa settled here in 1951,
from dawn to dusk he worked a black coal seam.
But the land he lived upon has been whittled down and gone
and you cannot fish in the stream

//Mama said that only faith can move a mountain.
But Mama never knew the greed of man.
First they strip the topsoil bare, then it's just no longer there,
down where the mountain used to stand.

I have the river rising on a blue-sky country day.
Seen kids down at the schoolyard
with coal dust on their shoes.
And a midnight flood last may
took a third of my land away
and the DEP says there ain't nothing they can do.

//Mama said that only faith can move a mountain.
But that dragline seems to have the upper hand.
And if that damn begins to seep,
we'll be one more Buffalo Creek,
down where the mountain used to stand.

There's gonna be a meeting at the old churchyard tonight,
and we're all up for getting something done.
Lately I’ve been thinking that it might be time to fight,
and I don't think that I'm the only one.

//Mama said that only faith can move a mountain.
Oh, Mama, I sure hope you understand.
Got the access road closed down,
so now they have to drive through town.
Down where the mountain used to stand.

This is for Ms. Linnville and for Larry Gibson too;
for Ed Wiley walking to the white house lawn.
Hey Maria, yes, it's true. I wrote this song for you.
I want them to remember when you're gone.

//Mama said that only faith can move a mountain,
and Jesus said be stewards of the land.
So who among you thinks that coal is orate the value of your soul,
down where the mountain used to stand?
Yes the ones who rape the land, will one day wear blood on their hands.
Down where the mountain used to stand.

credits

from People, Places, Things, released June 13, 2014
Doug Berch - Banjo
Br - Guitar, Dulcimer, Noter Dulcimer, Upright Bass, Vocals

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Butch Ross Chattanooga, Tennessee

Chattanooga multi-instrumentalist and mountain dulcimer maestro Butch Ross has tackled everything from Radiohead to Bach and come away with a renewed appreciation for what the humble dulcimer is capable of. His music is born from his respect for its abilities, a respect born from the years he's spent prying apart its pieces and discovering new sounds where none existed before. ... more

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