billy edd wheeler, “the coming of the roads”
from:”goin Town and Country,” 1966
“Now that our mountain is growing
With people hungry for wealth
How come it’s you that’s a-going
And I’m left all alone by myself
Once I had you and the wild wood
Now, it’s just dusty roads
And I can’t help from blamin’ your going
On the coming, the coming of the roads
Look how they’ve cut all to pieces
Our ancient poplar and oak
And the hillsides are stained with the greases
That burned up the heavens with smoke
We used to curse the bold crewmen
Who stripped our earth of its ore
Now, you’ve changed and you’ve gone over to them
And you’ve learned to love what you hated before
Once I thanked God for my treasure
Now like rust it corrodes
And I can’t help from blamin’ your goin’
On the coming, the coming of the roads”
Billy Edd Wheeler painting “The Rolling Fields,”
Here is one of the country’s great mostly hidden songwriters. He did not have a huge song catalogue, but they are all from the deep end of the pool. This one chronicles the decimation of his beloved West Virginia by progress. A moving and important historical record. Poetry is often the fastest, most concise method to treat these weighty topics and douse us with the nefarious complications.