Story Behind The Song

Dave Stone grew up in a town like this.

Song Description

Rise & fall of a Carolina mill town.

Lyrics

Company Town


Tweren't nothin' here but a bridge
Looked like a good place to build.
And that's just what old man Duke did.
He built himself a mill.

The promise of a steady wage brought people from miles around
So it goes in the company town.

The next thing he built was a store.
Then a bank, church, a bar and a hotel.
And then he built some houses for his help.
But nothin' like the one he built himself.

And like that river that powered his machines
The money flowed and he swam in his greed
Heard about a lower wage somewhere further south
So it goes for the company town.

Now Dad never had to much but he always had his job.
And folks said he's a good man the way he cared for me and Mom.
Now my ol' man wasn't born here but its where they'll lay him down.
His heart and soul are tied to the company town.

Dad heard the rumors all before.
But it didn't sound like something ol'Duke would do.
But when they put the chains on all the doors,
'Bout then he believed they were true.

High Cotton Avenue has started to decay.
Two years the mill been closed and my Dad, well, he's passed away.
Factory's still empty, its whistle don't make a sound
So it goes in the company town.
High Cotton Avenue has started to decay.
Two years the mill been closed and Duke's still getting paid.
Just empty buildin's, and their whistle don't make a sound
So it goes in the company town.

Tweren't nothin' here but a bridge. . .




Copyright r 2004 Ned Lucas/Dave Stone