From the recording Give'em What They Want
I'm surprised by how often I'm asked if this song is autobiographical—it's not, it's just a little story that grew after I awoke one morning and thought it might be fun to put a few familiar snippets together.
Click here to hear a different experiment with familiar snippets that I recorded many years ago; the photo alone is worth the click.
Back to this century, that's my son Emerson and his wife Chelsea (known collectively as Well Worn Soles) singing harmony, with the great Stuart Duncan on fiddle, and Jon Hahn on drums.
Lyrics
Coldwater County (4:15)
--Patterson Barrett ©2017 (BMI) Criminal Tunes
How dry I am
In Coldwater County
Here comes the bride, well I sure could use a drink
She brought joy to the world while she was still single
She’ll be mama’s little baby with fourteen children before you can blink
Up in this holler ten-years ago a beautiful young girl with something to show
We all had a look and my love started to grow
But she never took notice of me
How dry I am
In Coldwater County
Here comes the bride
Well I sure could use a drink
She brought joy to the world while she was still single
She’ll be mama’s little baby with fourteen children before she can blink
Young men have dreams and we all dreamed of her
Life would be heaven with her, we were sure
But I left this place chasing dreams of my own
I imagined her waiting at home
How dry I am
In Coldwater County
Here comes the bride
Well I sure could use a drink
She brought joy to the world while she was still single
She’ll be mama’s little baby with fourteen children before she can blink
Life’s about change
Of that there’s no doubt
Some things we need, some we do without
I think to myself as they walk down the aisle
Well I’m glad it’s not me in those shoes
How dry I am
In Coldwater County
Here comes the bride
Well it’s later than you think
She’ll bring joy to his world now she’s no longer single
They’ll be mama’s little babies with fourteen children before they can blink
There’ll be mama’s little babies
Now how about that drink