From the album "Debby McClatchy and the Red Clay Ramblers" Innisfree/Green Linnet - 1976.

HILLS OF KENTUCKY

Chorus:
Hills of Kentucky, look to my home
The California foot hills lie barren, dust blown
The hydraulic hoses took more than the gold
And the diggins'lie fallow, though 100 years old
Though 100 years old

Chorus:

You've all heard of the gold rush back in '49
Where they got the gold by pannin' and diggin' in the mine
But the deepest deposits were the richest in ore
And all the older methods they weren't good enough anymore
They weren't good anymore

They found that water pressure would wash the land away
And then by using sluices, wash out the mud and clay
And left down at the bottom the bright heavy gold
And the land lay stripped of top soil, desolate and cold
For the bright heavy gold

Chorus:

I hear down in Kentucky that your gold it is black coal
And machines instead of water are taking a heavy toll
And your children's children will walk a barren land
Best you learn from California and save it while you can
Oh please save it while you can