Love Lynne (smiley face): Thanks for posting the full lyrics - very helpful.

On reading those lyrics, my impression is much that of leenia (not to mention Malcolm Douglas) - this is an Englishman's imagining of American "country comforts". "'Cross the valley moves the herdsman with his torch" is positively Wordsworthian. Without knowing more about him, though, I wouldn't be so hard on Mr Taupin - perhaps this song took him a great deal of effort, and there is a long tradition of Brits, Europeans and for that matter North American urbanites daydreaming and fantasizing about the "country comforts" of rural America.

The observation that "For us, a village is a small town" reminds me of the infamous recording-studio battle of wits between Sonny Boy Williamson II and Leonard Chess, concerning the title of SBW's song "Little Village". I'll see if I can find it on-line and post a link.

I think my question has been answered as well as it's going to be, although I don't want to discourage further discussion. It's been interesting, as these things often turn out to be. Interesting, for instance, that at least in the south of England pine cones seem to be such prized commodities - in Canada, in my experience, they'll occasionally be used for some little craft project, but not all that often. I suspect the same is true in the States(?).

Thanks for the input, everybody! (smiley face)