Song Lyrics

They come down from Washington City
To our Blue Ridge Mountain home
And across that crooked river
To the valley down below

I was swimmin' in that water
When they came up to the shore
Sayin' sorry son this won't be
Dry land here anymore

Yes and my home town
Is a half mile down
It's a half mile o' water
All around, all around
My home town is a half mile down

First they started their surveyin'
And makin' up their plans
To flood that peaceful valley
Just to build Watauga dam
Oh they brought in their bulldozers
And pushed our homes away
And they handed me a shovel
And sixty cents a day

Singin' my home town
Is a half mile down
It's a half mile o' water
All around, all around
My home town is a half mile down

So they stripped out all the timber
And they leveled all the land
And they drilled and dynamited
'til they blew the mountains in
I tore down my old homeplace
And I dug up Daddy's grave
And I relocated Momma to 14 miles away

Now I look down on the water
That rose up on that day
By the banks of the old Watauga
Where I once used to play

Yes I look out on that water
Where they made their big mistake
And covered up our hometown
'neath the godforsaken lake

Singin' my home town
Is a half mile down
It's a half mile of water
All around, all around
My home town
Is a half mile down
It's a half mile of water
All around, all around
My home town is a half mile down

Ketch Secor, Jim Lauderdale

The duration of Half Mile Down is 3:01 minutes and seconds.