Tecumseh Valley

Song by folksinger Townes Van Zandt (1944-1997), telling the story of a girl named Caroline, who went to look for work in a valley named after Shawnee leader Tecumseh. She wants to earn money for her but also for her father, a miner. When she has earned enough to return home she receives the message that her father has died. Having lost all hope she becomes a prostitute and finally dies of unknown cause (broken heart?).

All in all a very strong and melancholic song by one of the great songwriters in American folk music. Townes Van Zandt is given credit by the documentary movie "Be Here to Love Me".

"The name she gave was Caroline
Daughter of a miner
Her ways were free
It seemed to me
That sunshine walked beside her"

"They found her down beneath the stairs
That led to Gypsy Sally’s
In her hand when she died
Was a note that cried
Fare thee well... Tecumseh Valley"

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