My Grandma’s from Kansas/my mother is too/my gramp lived a lifetime/ in a hole called mine 22 / In a place called the dust bowl /in a time before the new deal / they had just moved to Franklin/from a town called Breezy Hill

Now my Gramp was a drinker/and he played him some cards/and he grew a big garden/ in the spring in the yard/my gram had her chickens/water they drew from a well/ these are things that were told me/ and all my mother would tell

Now my gramp had a brother/some said he was slow/and though he was younger/ he worked down below/it was on Easter Sunday/his mother begged Johnny don’t go/ and he was crushed by a coal car/ and died while he smoked a last smoke

Now my mother she told me/ she never could cry/ and it took a lifetime/ and she finally said why/ she told half the story/ as seen through a little girl’s eyes/ how we get lost in a coal mine/ and sometimes we never get right

So I walk through the prairie/ for the things that I love/ my grandmother’s house there/ and the night sky above/ and when it gets quiet/ and I can feel my own soul/ I forgive uncle Johnny/ then I turn around and walk home

My Grandma’s from Kansas/ my mother is too/ my gramp lived a lifetime/ in a hole called mine 22 / in a place called a dust bowl/ in a time before the new deal/ they had just moved to Franklin/ from a town…..