State of Franklin

Irishmen on wagon wheels settled in these ancient hills
They cleared out the valley floor then played it like a checkerboard
Building barns and water mills, sometimes even whiskey stills
In what was once west Caroline, tucked up under that Virginia line

In the state that is but never was
Where mile high mountaintops run through your blood
It’s a state of being and it suits me fine
This state of Franklin state of mind

We ain’t had much industry since way back in ‘83
When they moved the factory over to the Philippines
It was mostly rusted tracks, dusty roads and busted shacks
Always taking up the slack and trying hard not to look back

In the state that is but never was
Where mile high mountaintops run through your blood
It’s a state of being and it suits me fine
This state of Franklin state of mind

Way down in the city they say they’ve seen it all
But they ain’t seen nothing like our colors in the fall
Or our crooked streams lined with rhododendron
And up here the Milky Way, it’s never ending

We’re having us a time and we’re still cooking up moonshine
Now we’re farming Christmas trees and hauling freight to make ends meet
Me and mine we’ll find a way, we won’t never move away
A mountaineer is free to roam but I’ll never leave my Franklin home

In the state that is but never was
Where mile high mountaintops run right through your blood
It’s a state of being and it suits me fine
This state of Franklin state of mind

A state of static? No, a state of motion
A state of if and when I get the notion
It’s a state of being and it suits me fine
This state of Franklin state of mind