Intro: D G D  A7 D  G D  A7 D  A7 D

     D                G            D
When I was a child my family would travel,
                                  A7           D
down to Western Kentucky where my parents were born
                                        G       D
And there's a backwards old town that's often remembered,
                      A7           D
so many times that my memories are worn.


    D                               G          D
And daddy won't you take me back to Muhlenberg County,
                              A7       D
down by the Green River where Paradise lay
                                   G           D
Well, I'm sorry my son, but you're too late in asking,
                             A7         D
Mr. Peabody's coal train has hauled it away


      D                           G              D
Well, sometimes we'd travel right down the Green River,
                                    A7    D
to the abandoned old prison down by Adrie Hill
                                           G              D
Where the air smelled like snakes and we'd shoot with our pistols,
                          A7           D
but empty pop bottles was all we would kill.


    D                               G          D
And daddy won't you take me back to Muhlenberg County,
                              A7       D
down by the Green River where Paradise lay
                                   G           D
Well, I'm sorry my son, but you're too late in asking,
                             A7         D
Mr. Peabody's coal train has hauled it away

Interlude: D G D  A7 D  G D  A7 D   A7 D

         D                          G               D
Then the coal company came with the world's largest shovel,
                                 A7               D
and they tortured the timber and stripped all the land
                                       G           D
Well, they dug for their coal till the land was forsaken,
                                   A7          D
then they wrote it all down as the progress of man.


    D                               G          D
And daddy won't you take me back to Muhlenberg County,
                              A7       D
down by the Green River where Paradise lay
                                   G           D
Well, I'm sorry my son, but you're too late in asking,
                             A7         D    D A7 D
Mr. Peabody's coal train has hauled it away


       D                      G              D
When I die let my ashes float down the Green River,
                              A7        D
let my soul roll on up to the Rochester dam
                               G        D
I'll be halfway to Heaven with Paradise waitin',
                              A7     D
just five miles away from wherever I am.


    D                               G          D
And daddy won't you take me back to Muhlenberg County,
                              A7       D
down by the Green River where Paradise lay
                                   G           D
Well, I'm sorry my son, but you're too late in asking,
                             A7         D
Mr. Peabody's coal train has hauled it away

Outro: D G D  A7 D  G D  A7 D   A7 D