Every now and then you need a break from the world of cryptocurrencies, blockchains, and ICOs that consume so much of Steemit and what seems like popular culture as a whole these days. One of the best ways I find to relax, decompress, and recharge is through some good music on late nights.
There's something about sitting in the silence under dim lights, long after everyone has called it a night, and letting yourself be kept company by a good melody. That's exactly what I found myself doing tonight, letting YouTube shuffle through some soft and smooth folk and Americana tunes. After listening to songs of simple times and broken hearts, an old favorite of mine started to play. A John Prine tune called Paradise. This particular version was a cover by a band called the Delta Saints. I think they did an amazing job capturing the feel and emotion of the song, slowly winding down the sad history of Paradise City, Kentucky. There's an emotion to this song that you can feel in this version, the hurt, sadness, and longing for something that is long gone. If you've never heard the song, take a minute and let yourself be taken to a different time: Paradise cover by The Delta Saint
Paradise was written by the great John Prine way back in 1971. It tells the sad history of Pardise City, a small town in Kentucky. Mr. Prine begins the song thinking back on the memories he had of Paradise, recalling them so often that they have become worn, not dissimilar to the way the leather of a prized baseball glove is worn after years of backyard ball and Highschool games.
Prine takes us through the memories of a forgotten time, family trips, and fun times. Only to tear it all down in the third verse, when he asks his Daddy to take him back to that place to which he had so many memories, only to learn that the coal company had torn it all down.
What's unfortunate is the truth behind the song. Parafise, Kentucky is a real place, with a real history, a sad history. It was a quiet little town described as a Paradise of clear water, lush green trees and grass. Apparently though, that all changed when coal was found in the area.
The coal company started to strip mine the area, a process by which trees and land are torn away and coal is stripped from the ground. John alludes to this as what carried away the town of Paradise and the people with it. In reality, shortly after the strip mining commenced, a coal plant was built close to the town. It rained down toxic Ash on the remaining townsfolk of Paradise. Shortly after, the Coal Plant bought the remaining townspeople out and they left the place they called home, marking the death of the once beautiful Paradise.
John alludes to this in his last verse, when he asks for his ashes to be floated down the Green River and letting the listeners know that the town of Paradise (now dead and gone) would be waiting for him when he made it to heaven.
It's songs like this that make you see the small things, the slow things, and simple things in life that are worth remembering and even more it acts as a reminder of the devastation that can follow unbridled greed and consumerism.
I hope you enjoyed my late night ramble through one of my favorite songs. Maybe I'll make a habit of posting stories like these every now and then, if nothing else, just to get my mind away from crypto and technology. Fell free to follow at
