They come down from Washington City To our Blue Ridge Mountain home And across that crooked river To the valley down below I was swimmin' in that water When they came up to the shore Sayin', sorry son, this won't be Dry land here anymore Yes, and my home town Is a half mile down It's a half mile o' water All around, all around My home town Is a half mile down First they started their surveyin' And makin' up their plans To flood that peaceful valley Just to build Watauga Dam Oh, they brought in their bulldozers And pushed our homes away And they handed me a shovel And sixty cents a day Singin' my home town Is a half mile down It's a half mile o' water All around, all around My home town Is a half mile down So they stripped out all the timber And they leveled all the land And they drilled and dynamited 'Til they blew the mountains in I tore down my old home-place And I dug up daddy's grave And I relocated momma To fourteen miles away Now I look down on the water That rose up on that day By the banks of the old Watauga Where I once used to play Yes, I look out on that water Where they made their big mistake And covered up our hometown 'Neath the godforsaken lake Singin' my home town Is a half mile down It's a half mile of water All around, all around My home town Is a half mile down It's a half mile of water All around, all around My home town Is a half mile down