Take Me Home to My Southland

Take Me Home to My Southland

Written by Jonathan Henderson

January 27, 2014 @ 1:59 AM

'Tis Winter up North in Chicago,

And the blizzard is just a-howling.

The cold froze old Lake Michigan,

And that Magnificent Mile, as well.

You can take that Amtrak thither

For it'll roll past the Mason-Dixon.

The North is such a quaint old cuss,

But pales to the Southland's charm.

Take me home to my Southland,

My God! Send me Southbound,

And while I roll along her tracks,

Cairo of Indy State's swamp drains

And reach Kentucky's blue grass.

But the old Kentucky home ain't

The home sweet home of my soul,

For that'll only be whetted by old

Tennessee, and her rocky top's 

Snowy peaks amid a frosty winter.

The Southland's cold, but it don't

Hold the man hostage to the bone

As frigid, old Chicago, mind you so!

Never met one he wouldn't have bit.

Take me home to my Southland,

O' God! Take me home Southbound,

But I shall miss old Michigan Avenue,

And those Monsters of the Midway!

Forget the Cubs: it'll be another year,

And the Good Guys shall bet the farm.

The Hawks cashed in its "Dollar Bill,"

And the Bulls still try to be like Mike.

But here, my abode in the foothills of

Those fair, beloved Smoky Mounts,

I see upon the orange moon glowing

And those leaves, the Volunteers of

My beloved alma mater, Tennessee!

Take me home to my Southland,

Let me dine on biscuits and gravy!

Throw in just a bowl of tasty grits

And country ham: that salty delight!

I love whittling ducks in my spare time,

And chop wood for the autumn fire,

Dressed in a plaid shirt and overalls,

O'! My Tennessee'll always be home!

I'll sit upon my mount's cabin porch

Surveying all I will, but shall always

Look at my Southland home at those

Country souls as far as I can see in my

Beloved Southland Tennessee abode.