INTRO:
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VERSE 1:
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One of my fondest memories
C
Was sittin' on my daddy's knee
G
Listenin' to the stories that he told
G
He'd pull out that old photograph
C
Like a treasured memory from the past, and say
G D G
"Child, this here's the Van Lear Rose"
G
VERSE 2:
G
Oh, how it would bring a smile
C
When he talked about her big, blue eyes
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And how her beauty ran down to her soul
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She'd walk across the coal miner's yard
C
Them miners would yell loud and hard
G D G
And they'd dream of who would hold the Van Lear Rose
C
She was the belle of Johnson county
G
Ohio river to Big Sandy
D G
A beauty to behold like a diamond in the coal
C
All the miners they would gather 'round
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And talk about the man that came to town
D G
Right under their nose, stole the heart of the Van Lear Rose
VERSE 3:
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Now, the Van Lear Rose could of had her pick
C
And all the fellers figured rich
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Until this poor boy caught her eye
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His buddies would all laugh and say,
C
"You're dreamin' boy,she'll never look your way
G D G
You'll never, ever hold the Van Lear Rose"
CHORUS
BRIDGE:
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Then one night in mid-July
C
Underneath that old blue Kentucky sky
G
Well, that poor boy won that beauty's heart
Then my daddy would look at my mommy and smile
C
As he brushed the hair back from my eyes and he'd say,
G D G
"Your mama, she's the Van Lear Rose"
CHORUS
D G
Right under their nose, stole the heart of the Van Lear Rose
