Rose Run from Spittin' Pretty by Annick Odom & Linen of Words

The only books I had at home in the Netherlands during my first week of lockdown were two collections of ghost stories from West Virginia. This one I found in Ruth Ann Musick's Green Hills of Magic: West Virginia Folktales from Europe.

While I do like ghost stories, I'm also thankful to friends who are now lending me some poetry and novels for the coming months. ;) I've also got some more songs coming later that were inspired by flipping through this book.

I didn't much like the story called Rose Run in the collection.. but I did like the place and scenery descriptions, so I took that as a starter and made up my own story.

Tracklist

4.	Rose Run	3:01

Lyrics

Rose Run, it’s far back on Bunner’s Ridge,
close to Morgantown
It was and still is
the place that she comes from

A farmer’s daughter fell in love
With a farmer’s son
It started easy, and for a time
It fooled everyone

How she loved that man,
he was her everything
And he loved her too,
Every night they’d sit by the fire and sing

It was bliss, as long
As he was out having fun
She’d do the chores,
stay at home til the work was done

It’s hard to say when the changes came
Maybe it was sudden, maybe slow and with pain

Soon, their shutters stayed drawn
And long sleeves hid her bruised-up skin
Her eyes lost their sparkle
And her laughter, it was blown away with the wind

Rose run, far away from here
Rose run, you should not stay
Rose run, far away from here
Rose run, but please don’t stay

Wild roses in the valley
They covered everything,
Like wildfire, they choked
the very sunlight from the soil

Morning hit,
and as he started drinkin’
she quietly packed her bags,
and rose she ran

Rose run, far away from here
Rose run, you should not stay
Rose run, far away from here
Rose run, but please don’t stay

Credits

from Spittin' Pretty, released May 1, 2020

License