Drive-By Truckers - Uncle Frank lyrics

They powered up the city
With hydro-electric juice
Now we got more electricity than
We can ever use
They flooded out the hollow and all
The folks down there moved out
But they got paid so there ain't
Nothin' else to think about

Some of them made their living
Cutting the timber down
Snaking it one log at a time
Up the hill and into town
TVA had a way to clear it off real fast
Lots of men and machinery build a
Dam and drown the rest

Uncle Frank lived in a cabin
Down on Cedar Creek
Bought fifteen acres when he got back
Home from overseas Fifteen rocky acres


Figured no one else would want
'Til all that backed up water had
To have some place to go
Uncle Frank couldn't read or write
Never held down a job
Or needed one in his life
They assured him there'd be work
For him in town
Building cars, It's already going down

The cars never came to town and the roads
Never got built And the price of all
That power kept on going
Straight uphill The banks
Around the hollow sold
For lake-front property
Where doctors, lawyers
And musicians teach their kids to water-ski

Uncle Frank couldn't read or write
So there was no note or
Letter found where he died
Just a rope around his neck and the
Kitchen table turned on it's side