The Mountain

Tucked in the hills of Rockford County, 1943 Well, there lived a man up in those woods Who nobodies ever seen He lived off the land with a gun in his hand He never caused nobody no fit Till the prospector man showed up on his land With a pen and a writ Well the stranger talked about mining He said he'd be willing to pay top price He said, but if you won't listen to me This writ says it mine Well the mountain man, he kinda chuckled He said better take your paper and run Cause if you think I'm gonna listen to you It ain't gonna happen son He said I wont turn my back on the mountain Cause she ain't never turned on me And I don't need no little city-slicker boy Trying to take her from me You see my home is in these hollers Where the river runs wild and free And if you ever come back here again I'll make this guarantee That this will be the last time You turn your back on the mountain Well, the stranger turned and walked away And everything was as it should But two days later he showed back up And with the sheriff there he stood Now, but the mountain man he had a plan He said I warned them once that's good And the last thing those boys ever heard Was a voice they understood You shouldn't have come back to the mountain Cause I told you what I'd do But you came here again And now this is the end And now I'll make it true Cause I'll die for these hollers Where the river runs wild and free So, get right with the man upstairs Cause it's time for y'all to meet Cause that was the last time You turned your back on the mountain Well that was fifty years ago But even to this day They ain't never found that prospector man Or the sheriff now they say Well, the mountain man died short after And he's buried on that hill But my grandpa taught us when we was just kids That his soul roams there still He said don't turn your back on the mountain Cause he still roams them woods And no amount of running going to do a bit of good Cause he died for those hollers And he protects them to this day So please don't be the one Who doesn't listen son Cause you'll hear him say That was the last time You turned your back on the mountain