A song that came to me while driving down highway 99 just north of Eugene, Oregon. I saw a sign for Prairie Road on my way home and the lyrics came out so fast I had to pull over twice to let it out. I imagined life in the Willamette Valley in the 1930's when the mills still took the big trees out of the Coast Range. A love that not even Marigolds could save.
lyrics
G C
Out beyond the edge of town Way past the plywood mill
Bm D7
I settled down my pack until I had my fill
G C
Of marigolds and chicken hawks and fenceposts in a row
Em Am G
Blackbirds sing the melody Out on the Prairie Road
G C
A Red haired country girl I knew once took me by the hand
Bm D
Her eyes the color of peridot she made me a better man
G C
Then she said she loved me and that's all I had to know
Em Am G
So I took her hand so gently and we walked down Prairie Road
G Em C Am
Prairie Road lads Prairie Road I sing my final love song
G Em C Am
Prairie Road Prairie Road I sing this final love song
D G
Out on the Prairie Road
G C
I built a house for the two of us splitting logs from the old Doug Fir
Bm D
In the morning I'd work the mill At night I'd come to her
G C
And a garden filled with lemongrass, butterfly's and marigolds
Em Am G
I loved that red haired country girl out on the prairie road
G Em C Am
Prairie Road lads Prairie Road I sing my final love song
G Em C Am
Prairie Road Prairie Road I sing this final love song
D G
Out on the Prairie Road
G C
It took a change of season now the mills are shut down
Bm D
I've spoke with all my friends there's no work here to be found
G C
The marigolds all faded away I guess I should have known
Em Am G
That red haired country girl left me on the Prairie Road
G Em C Am
Prairie Road lads Prairie Road I sing my final love song
G Em C Am
Prairie Road Prairie Road I sing this final love song
D G
Out on the Prairie Road
G C
Now pick up work is my specialty I'll do anything for pay
Bm D
Or a meal, a drink and bed At the end of the day
G C
Don't believe I'll settle down I have no hand to hold
Em Am G
I got to keep on moving Get off this Prairie Road
CHORUS
1st verse with no chorus
credits
from Prairie Road,
released July 21, 2018
Written by Sean McGowan - Sean McGowan Music (ASCAP)
Produced by Tyler Fortier
John Shipe: Electric guitar/slide
Tyler Fortier: acoustic and resonator guitar, electric guitar, piano, keys, percussion, shaker and tambourine
Sean McGowan: electric bass, lead vocal
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