"Seneca Creek" lyrics

In the spring of 1949
That's when I crossed the county line
It's there I saw in Seneca Creek
A girl named Ruth who washed her feet
I told her my name was R.C. Phares
That I'd marry her with half a karat
She said "I do, but no stone can reach
The prettiest shine of this here creek"

The mud was deep and the roads were wide
We'd retreat and then re-take the lines
Korean winters had torn me down
And killed all the boys from my hometown
But I'm coming home, Ruth, my dear
I got money in my pocket, don't you fear
We'll build a life by Seneca Creek
You'll have everything you'll ever need

Let's build a home by Seneca Creek
And raise ourselves a family
I'll work on the farm, you work the store
We'll have everything we ever hoped for
With the top of a mountain above our heads
And the roar of Seneca by the bed
Seneca Creek

And sure enough, the hard times came
You loved yours, I did the same
But we made it through the winter's cold
And many summers young and old
In '85 the creek did rise
But it only took the other side
Took Gandee, North Fork and South Branch too
The house still stood that I built for you

In '94 when you got sick
We'd make up trips for the hell of it
Take my hand, Ruth, my dear
I'll take you back to any year
And now you lie on the hill up high
Right beneath the mountain sky
Seneca Creek sings below
Atop the tree sits a lonely crow

We built a home by Seneca Creek
And raised ourselves a family
I worked on the farm, you worked the store
We had everything we'd ever hoped for
With the top of a mountain above our heads
And the roar of Seneca by the bed
Seneca Creek