Dahlonega Gold

Lyrics

[Intro]

[Verse 1]
You, little lump of Dahlonega gleam,
pulled from the Chestatee River bed in 1828,
Benjamin Parks tripped over your kin that autumn day,
sparking the rush before California dreamed of forty-nine.
I hold you now, cool against my palm,
your weight a whisper of those fevered pans,
sifting red clay for your yellow wink.

[Chorus]
Oh, gold in them thar hills,
whispered first right here,
under the Lumpkin County oaks,
where men bent low to the earth,
chasing your elusive light.
Federal mint rose in 1838,
coining you into eagles and half-eagles,
until the war shut the presses in 1861.

[Verse 2]
I trace your edges, minted in that brick building on the square,
where assayers weighed you pure,
steam engines humming through the night.
Price Memorial Hall wears your brothers on its dome,
gilded in 1973 with flakes from these very streams,
shining over the university like a crown.
You, my quiet companion,
tell of Cherokee land taken,
treaties broken for your shine.

[Bridge]
But hold still, my golden one,
in this close light, you're more than rush and ruin,
you're the vein in the rock,
the pulse of these Appalachian folds.

[Verse 3]
Consolidated Gold Mine tunnels still echo,
tourists now where miners swung picks,
but you remember the first strike,
the boom that built a town.
Dahlonega, your name from Cherokee talonega,
meaning yellow, how fitting.
I press you to my lips,
taste the earth's old secret.

[Outro]
Gold in them thar hills,
still calling, still gleaming,
from 1828 to forever.