By:Jimmy Work · Source Recording: Bill Harrell and the Virginians (1998)
Her eyes were blue her hair was auburn
Her smile was like an angel dear
She was her daddys only daughter
On the Tennessee border
One night I took a ride just across the line
I picked her up in a pickup truck and she broke this heart of mine
Her Mother said no she's my only daughter
But we got married on the Tennessee border
The roses bloomed around the border
The moon shone down from above
I fell in love the night I saw her
On the Tennessee border
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By:Jimmy Work · Source Recording:Bill Harrell and the Virginians (1998)
“Tennessee Border” was written by Jimmy Work, who recorded it himself in 1948 after failing to interest anyone else in the song. It became a hit the following year for several artists, among them Red Foley and Tennessee Ernie Ford.
The song is a cheerful courting tale. The singer meets a girl down on the Tennessee border, falls for her at once, and the lyric follows the bright, simple business of that meeting and the marriage that follows.
“Tennessee Border” crossed easily into bluegrass.
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Clicks before the band comes in, so you start together.
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The band goes quiet for a bar or two and you keep the time going.
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