Well I said goodbye to Rosie Rooke this morning
I'm gonna miss her bloodshot alcoholic eyes
She wore her Sunday hat so she'd impress me
I'm gonna carry her memory 'til the day I die

They'll move me up to Muswell Hill tomorrow
Photographs and souvenirs are all I've got
They're gonna try and make me change my way of living
But they'll never make me something that I'm not

'Cause I'm a Muswell Hillbilly boy
But my heart lies in old West Virginia
Never seen New Orleans, Oklahoma, Tennessee
Still I dream of the Black Hills that I ain't never seen

They're putting us in identical little boxes
No character just uniformity
They're trying to build a computerized community
But they'll never make a zombie out of me

They'll try and make me study elocution
Because they say my accent isn't right
They can clear the slums as part of their solution
But they're never gonna kill my cockney pride

'Cause I'm a Muswell Hillbilly boy
But my heart lies in Old West Virginia
Though my hills they're not green
I have seen them in my dreams
Take me back to those Black Hills
That I ain't never seen

Well, I'm a Muswell Hillbilly boy
But my heart lies in Old West Virginia
Though my hills they're not green
But I've seen them in my dreams
Take me back to those Black Hills
That I ain't never seen


Lyrics submitted by planetearth

Muswell Hillbilly Lyrics as written by Ray Davies

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management

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Muswell Hillbilly song meanings
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    General Comment

    "Well I said goodbye to Rosie Rooke this morning" Is most probably Ray referring to saying goodbye to his sister, Rosie, before she moved to Australia. To me, this song is obviously about Ray and Dave growing up in Muswell Hill in London, "But they're never gonna kill my cockney pride" I'm not sure why its 'Hillbilly', maybe it because Muswell Hill wasn't as nice of a place in the '60s as it is today, or maybe it's because of the references to America. I think maybe Ray dreamed of living in America as a boy, "I have seen them in my dreams Take me back to those Black Hills That I have never seen" and he dreamed of what his life would be like there. ("They'll try and make me study elocution Because they say my accent isn't right") And maybe when he spoke about Rosie at the beginning, he dreamed it was him saying goodbye to her, and moving on, not the other way round.

    comedancingon September 21, 2008   Link

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