[Verse 1]
When I was a child my family would travel
Down to Western Kentucky where my parents were born
There's a backwards old town that's often remembered
So many times that my mem'ries are worn

[Chorus]
And, Daddy, won't you take me back to Muhlenberg County
Down by the Green River where Paradise lay?
"Well, I'm sorry, my dear, but you're too late in askin'
Mr. Peabody's coal train has hauled it away"

[Verse 2]
The coal company came with the world's largest shovel
They tortured the timber and stripped all the land
They dug for their coal 'til the land was forsaken
And wrote it all down as the progress of Man

[Chorus]
And, Daddy, won't you take me back to Muhlenberg County
Down by the Green River where Paradise lay?
"Well, I'm sorry, my dear, but you're too late in askin'
Mr. Peabody's coal train has hauled it away"

[Bridge]
When I die let my ashes float down the Green River
Let my soul roll on up to the Rochester Dam
I'll be halfway to Heaven with Paradise waitin'
I'm five miles away from wherever I am
[Chorus]
And, Daddy, won't you take me back to Muhlenberg County
Down by the Green River where Paradise lay?
"Well, I'm sorry, my dear, but you're too late in askin'
Mr. Peabody's coal train has hauled it away"

[Outro]
When I die, let my ashes float down the Green River
Let my soul roll on up to the Rochester Dam
I'll be halfway to Heaven with Paradise waitin'