Like a sweet rippling mountain stream   Goes the sound of the banjo on Cripple Creek   Never beginning never ending just rippling on and on   So does the land just ripple on and on      As a heart gets soft on a woman   So can the heart get soft on the land   And to fall in love with a woman   As well as the land is to surely be in love      I stayed away too long I know   And every day was slow to go   Every night I dreamed I was here   It's been a mighty lonely year      Every mile I needed you   I kinda hope that you needed me too   Everywhere I saw your face around   Every town I was in      This old familiar place welcomed me again   Back to where I belonged   To be back to you and Tennessee   Back to you and Tennessee      Beside the Cumberland River   Where the grass is soft and sweet   We ran across the fields of cedar   Hiding from the noisy streets      And when the leaves fell from the cold   The stars were silver the moon was gold   I said it's yours with love from me   I'm planting my roots in this ground      And when they look for me I'll be found   With something that is part of me   You and Tennessee   Back with you and Tennessee