They come down from Washington city to our blue ridge mountain home
And they crossed that crooked river to the valley down below
I was swimming in that water when they came up to the shore
Saying sorry son this won't be dry land here anymore
Yes and my home town is a half mile down
Its a half mile of water all around all around
My home town is a half mile down
First they started their surveying and making up their plans
To flood that peaceful valley just to build Watogga dam
Well they brought in their bulldozers and pushed our homes away
And they handed me a shovel and sixty cents a day
Singing my home town is a half mile down
Its a half mile of 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 mama to fourteen miles away
Now I look out on the water that rose upon that day
By the banks of the old Wattoga 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 that god forsaken lake
Singing my hometown is a half mile down
Its a half mile of water all around all around
My home town is a half mile down
Its a half mile of water all around all around
My home town is a half mile down