Caroline, Caroline
I never could leave you to struggle
Hold the line, hold the line
I'll be there on the double
In time, in time
Everyone does see trouble
And you don't need to know why when you cry
You don't need to know why
You don't need to know why when you cry
Violet's eyes, Violet plays
Going back home to the Great Lakes
Where the cattail sways
With the lonesome moon
Riding that train in late June
With the windows wide by my side
With the windows wide
With the windows wide by my side
And the clusters fell, like an empty bell
Meteor shower at the motel
Where the empty space is a saving grace
Making good time and doing well
Still the question sings, like Saturn's rings
Maybe she knows and she won't tell
But you don't need to know why when you cry
You don't need to know why
You don't need to know why when you cry
And I find you there in your country flair
Middle of the river in a lawn chair
With your wrinkled hands and your silver hair
Leaving here soon and you know where
To where the cattail sways with the lonesome moon
You'll be riding that train in late June
With the windows wide by your side
With the windows wide
With the windows wide by your side
You don't need to know why
You don't need to know why when you cry
I never could leave you to struggle
Hold the line, hold the line
I'll be there on the double
In time, in time
Everyone does see trouble
You don't need to know why
You don't need to know why when you cry
Going back home to the Great Lakes
Where the cattail sways
With the lonesome moon
Riding that train in late June
With the windows wide
With the windows wide by my side
Meteor shower at the motel
Where the empty space is a saving grace
Making good time and doing well
Still the question sings, like Saturn's rings
Maybe she knows and she won't tell
You don't need to know why
You don't need to know why when you cry
Middle of the river in a lawn chair
With your wrinkled hands and your silver hair
Leaving here soon and you know where
To where the cattail sways with the lonesome moon
You'll be riding that train in late June
With the windows wide
With the windows wide by your side
You don't need to know why
You don't need to know why when you cry
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Cattails are a plant: https://www.nps.gov/miss/learn/nature/cattails.htm
Are Caroline and Violet different people?
Someone close, a mother or grandmother, lives out in the country...
The first minute or so of this song is just sublime.
This is a beautiful, haunting, poignant song. I think Caroline is a relative (or a friend?) of the singer. She is old and likely to die soon -- "leaving here soon and you know where."
And I imagine this woman's version of "going to Heaven" after she dies is returning to the Great Lakes area (of her youth?) where the cattails sway with the lonesome loon.