Song Description
Describes three generations of men, starting with a German immigrant to Kansas who farmed in a traditional manner. His son wanted to mechanize the farm and they struggled with this. Finally, the artists' father was born there and he moved into the business world although he still reminisces about his childhood in rural Kansas.
Song Length |
3:37 |
Genre |
Folk - General |
Tempo |
Medium (111 - 130) |
Lead Vocal |
Male Vocal |
Mood |
Welcoming, Serene |
Subject |
Long, Prisoner |
Similar Artists |
Harry Chapin, James Taylor |
Language |
English |
Era |
1990 - 1999 |
| |
Lyrics
Flint Hills of Kansas
Here I sit at my forefathers’ grave
In the Flint Hills of Kansas
This is where that old wild west was tamed
In the Flint Hills of Kansas
Great grandpa Otto had a big old herd of steer
At a ranch just up the road
To the west, there’s a hill that rises there
It’s where his ashes are sown
And in the stillness of a quiet prairie day
I can almost hear him speak
About the trueness of a draft horse and a plow
And that’s the way it had to be
Here I sit at where my grandpa was raised
In the Flint Hills of Kansas
This is where freight trains roared across the plains
In the Flint Hills of Kansas
My grandpa thinks about the land he used to know
From a thousand miles away
His heart is still where that big old bluestem grows
He talks about it everyday
And I can hear him through the miles and the years
Oh, I think I hear him again
Tractors, motors, and machines are what we need
And that’s the way it should have been
Here I sit where my father was raised
In the Flint Hills of Kansas
This is where respect and honor earned their names
In the Flint Hills of Kansas
My dad has long since left the land he used to know
His life has kept him far away
I see him turn and look upon his childhood home
And this is what he has to say,
“Good old Aunt Mary lived just up across the way
That oak tree marks the day that I was born
And there’s the school where I learned my ABCs
And the church where I learned to trust the lord
Here I sit at my forefathers’ grave
In the Flint Hills of Kansas
This is where I have come to claim my name
In the Flint Hills of Kansas
This is where I have come to claim my name
In the Flint Hills of Kansas
©2000 Greg Winkler