"The Trail of the Lonesome Pine" is a popular song published in 1913, with lyrics by Ballard MacDonald

Ballard MacDonald

Ballard MacDonald was a Tin Pan Alley lyricist.Born in Portland, Oregon, among his credits are:Beautiful Ohio, Rose of Washington Square, Second Hand Rose, Parade of the Wooden Soldiers, Back Home Again in Indiana, The Trail of the Lonesome Pine, Play That Barbershop Chord, Clap Hands, Here Comes...

 and music by Harry Carroll

Harry Carroll

Harry Carroll, a famous American songwriter, pianist and composer, was born on November 28, 1892, in Atlantic City, New Jersey and died December 26, 1962, in Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania. He taught himself how to play the piano and began playing in movie houses before he finished grade school...

. In the song the singer expresses his love for June who lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains

Blue Ridge Mountains

The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. This province consists of northern and southern physiographic regions, which divide near the Roanoke River gap. The mountain range is located in the eastern United States, starting at its southern-most...

 of Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

. The chorus is:

In the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia,

On the trail of the lonesome pine—

In the pale moonshine our hearts entwine,

Where she carved her name and I carved mine;

Oh, June, like the mountains I'm blue—

Like the pine I am lonesome for you,

In the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia,

On the trail of the lonesome pine.

"The Trail of the Lonesome Pine" has been recorded numerous times, probably most notably by Laurel and Hardy

Laurel and Hardy

Laurel and Hardy were one of the most popular and critically acclaimed comedy double acts of the early Classical Hollywood era of American cinema...

, and was featured in their 1937 film Way Out West

Way Out West (1937 film)

Way Out West is a Laurel and Hardy comedy film released in 1937. It was directed by James W. Horne, produced by Stan Laurel and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.-Plot:...

. This version was also released as a single in 1975 in the UK, where it reached number 2 in the charts. The song was also recorded by Vivian Stanshall

Vivian Stanshall

Vivian Stanshall was an English singer-songwriter, painter, musician, author, poet and wit, best known for his work with the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, for his surreal exploration of the British upper classes in Sir Henry at Rawlinson End, and for narrating Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells.-The great...

, the English

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 frontman of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band

Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band

The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band are a band created by a group of British art-school denizens of the 1960s...

, and released as "Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia" by NWOBHM band Tokyo Blade

Tokyo Blade

Tokyo Blade is an English heavy metal band, active since 1982. Tokyo Blade is one of the many acts considered part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement from the late 1970s / early 1980s. Tokyo Blade went through many changes of formation and disbanded twice, often changing their musical...

.

The song is from the movie/play The Trail Of The Lonesome Pine. The outdoor drama of The Trail Of The Lonesome Pine is in Big Stone Gap, Virginia, and is the sixth longest running outdoor drama in the United States.

External links

• "The Trail of the Lonesome Pine", Manuel Romain (Edison Blue Amberol 1743, 1913)—Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project.
• Transcription of Laurel & Hardy version