Tecumseh Valley 1968 version by Townes Van Zandt Lyrics

[Verse 1]
The name she gave was Caroline
The daughter of a miner
Well her ways were free and it seemed to me
Sunshine walked beside her

[Verse 2]
She said she'd come to look for work
She was not seekin' favors
For a dime a day and a place to stay
She'd turn those hands to labor

[Verse 3]
But the times were hard, Lord, and the jobs were few
All through Tecumseh Valley
But she asked around and a job she found
Tending bar for Gypsy Sally

[Verse 4]
She saved enough to get back home
When spring replaced the winter
But her dreams were denied, her pa had died
The word come down from Spencer
[Verse 5]
She turned to walkin' down the road
From all the hate inside her
And it was many a man returned again
To walk that road beside her

[Verse 6]
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"