This article needs additional citations for verification .(October 2016) |
"Paradise" | |
---|---|
Song by John Prine | |
from the album John Prine | |
Released | 1971 |
Recorded | A&R Studios, New York |
Genre | Folk music |
Length | 3:10 |
Label | Atlantic |
Songwriter(s) | John Prine |
"Paradise" is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter John Prine for his 1971 self-titled debut album. Prine would later re-record the song for his 1986 album German Afternoons .
"Paradise" is about the devastating impact of surface mining for coal, whereby the top layers of soil are blasted off with dynamite or dug away with steam shovels to reach a coal seam below, on Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, the home county of Prine's parents. [1] The song references coal mining corporation Peabody Energy and the former coal mining town of Paradise in Muhlenberg County, where the Tennessee Valley Authority operated the coal-fired Paradise Fossil Plant. [2] In late 1967, Paradise was abandoned and demolished to accommodate an expansion of the power plant. [3] The TVA has since converted the Paradise Fossil Plant, now the Paradise Combined Cycle Plant, to run on natural gas. [4]
In the final verse of "Paradise", Prine asks, "When I die, let my ashes float down the Green River". After his death in 2020, this wish was fulfilled, and in 2022 a park by the Rochester Dam on the Green River was dedicated to him. [5]
John Fogerty, one of many artists who have covered "Paradise," told Acoustic Guitar in 2009 that the song was "a touchstone for people like us who decry the way corporations get to run roughshod over what may be desired by the little guy, but he’s powerless to stop it or stand in the way." [6] The most successful version of the song was by released by Lynn Anderson in 1976, peaking at #26 on the Billboard country chart.
External videos | |
---|---|
Sturgill Simpson and John Prine Perform "Paradise" (Mr. Peabody's Coal Train), 4:03, Recording Academy |
Muhlenberg County is a county in the U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 30,928. Its county seat is Greenville and its largest city is Central City.
Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes is the seventh studio album by American popular music singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett. This is his breakthrough album, which remains the best-selling studio album of Buffett's career, and contains his biggest single, "Margaritaville". It was initially released in January 1977 as ABC AB-990 and rereleased on its successor label, MCA.
John Edward Prine was an American singer-songwriter of country-folk music. Widely cited as one of the most influential songwriters of his generation, Prine was known for his signature blend of humorous lyrics about love, life, and current events, often with elements of social commentary and satire, as well as sweet songs and melancholy ballads. He was active as a composer, recording artist, live performer, and occasional actor from the early 1970s until his death.
The Green River is a 384-mile-long (618 km) tributary of the Ohio River that rises in Lincoln County in south central Kentucky. Tributaries of the Green River include the Barren River, the Nolin River, the Pond River and the Rough River. The river was named after Nathanael Greene, a general of the American Revolutionary War.
Merle Robert Travis was an American country and western singer, songwriter, and guitarist born in Rosewood, Kentucky, United States. His songs' lyrics often discussed both the lives and the economic exploitation of American coal miners. Among his many well-known songs and recordings are "Sixteen Tons", "Re-Enlistment Blues", "I am a Pilgrim" and "Dark as a Dungeon". However, it is his unique guitar style, still called "Travis picking" by guitarists, as well as his interpretations of the rich musical traditions of his native Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, for which he is best known today. Travis picking is a syncopated style of guitar fingerpicking rooted in ragtime music in which alternating chords and bass notes are plucked by the thumb while melodies are simultaneously plucked by the index finger. He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970 and elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1977.
Todd Daniel Snider is an American singer-songwriter whose music incorporates elements of folk, rock, blues, alt country, and funk.
"Sixteen Tons" is a song written by Merle Travis about a coal miner, based on life in the mines of Muhlenberg County, Kentucky. Travis first recorded the song at the Radio Recorders Studio B in Hollywood, California, on August 8, 1946. Cliffie Stone played bass on the recording. It was first released in July 1947 by Capitol on Travis's album Folk Songs of the Hills. The song became a gold record.
Reggie Grimes Young Jr. was an American musician who was lead guitarist in the American Sound Studio house band, The Memphis Boys, and was a leading session musician.
"Cheeseburger in Paradise" is a song written and performed by American popular music singer Jimmy Buffett. It appeared on his 1978 album Son of a Son of a Sailor and was released as a single, reaching No. 32 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Cheeseburger in Paradise" became one of Buffett's signature songs, and was selected as the first track on his greatest hits album Songs You Know by Heart.
Paradise was a small town in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, United States. The town was located 10.5 miles (16.9 km) east-north-east of Greenville and was formerly called Stom's Landing. It was once a trading post along the Green River. The area was strip mined in the 20th century. What was left of the town was bought-up and torn down in 1967 by the Tennessee Valley Authority due to health concerns over the adjacent coal-burning electric plant, Paradise Fossil Plant, and the need to expand the plant.
"Dark as a Dungeon" is a song written by singer-songwriter Merle Travis. It is a lament about the danger and drudgery of being a coal miner in a shaft mine. It has become a rallying song among miners seeking improved working conditions.
The Mystery of Life is the 77th album by country singer Johnny Cash, released in 1991, and his last for Mercury Records. The songs featured are culled from both recent sessions and from leftovers from Cash's first Mercury session in 1986 for the album Johnny Cash is Coming to Town.
John Prine is the debut album by American country/folk singer-songwriter John Prine, issued by Atlantic Records in 1971. In 2012, the album was ranked number 452 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. It was later ranked number 149 in a revised version of the list published in 2020.
"Lookin' out My Back Door" is a song recorded by the American band Creedence Clearwater Revival. Written by the band's lead singer, guitarist and songwriter John Fogerty, it is included on their fifth album Cosmo's Factory (1970), and became their fifth and final number-two Billboard hit, held off the top by Diana Ross's version of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough". It was their only Cash Box Top 100 number-one hit.
Bull Run Fossil Plant, commonly known as Bull Run Steam Plant, is a decommissioned 889 megawatt (MW), coal-fired electric generating station owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). The plant is the only coal fired power plant ever constructed by TVA with one unit, and was retired on December 1, 2023.
"Green River" is a song by American rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival. It was written by John Fogerty and released as a single in July 1969, one month before the album of the same name was released. "Green River" peaked at number two for one week, behind "Sugar, Sugar" by The Archies, and was ranked by Billboard as the No. 31 song of 1969.
The Paradise Combined Cycle Plant is a natural gas power plant operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). Located just east of Drakesboro, Kentucky, it was the highest power capacity power plant in Kentucky. The plant originally consisted of three coal units, with a combined capacity of 2,632 MW. Units 1 and 2 were retired in 2017, and replaced with the natural gas units, and Unit 3 was retired in 2020. The combined cycle natural gas plant had a capacity of 1.02-gigawatts as of 2017.
"Almost Saturday Night" is a song written by John Fogerty and first released on his 1975 album John Fogerty. It was released as a single and reached No. 78. It has been covered by a number of artists, including Dave Edmunds, who also released it as a single to more success, Gene Clark, Ricky Nelson, The Searchers, The Georgia Satellites and Ned LeDoux.
Keith Sykes is an American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. More than 100 of Sykes' songs have been recorded by John Prine, Rosanne Cash, The Judds, Jerry Jeff Walker, and George Thorogood, though he may be best known for co-writing "Volcano", the title track of Jimmy Buffett's 1979 album.
Still Woman Enough is the forty-sixth and final solo studio album by American country music singer-songwriter Loretta Lynn. It was released on March 19, 2021, by Legacy Recordings. The album was produced by Lynn's daughter Patsy Lynn Russell and John Carter Cash, the son of Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash. The album shares its title with Lynn's 2002 autobiography.