I thought you might enjoy the Song of Cove Creek Dam by Union Countian Ruben Cleatus Burnett.

The Song of Cove Creek Dam
by Ruben Cleatus Burnett
Sharps Chapel, Tennessee

When the old Cove Creek Dam first was started, most everyone said it would be so grand
For they did not realize the water that was going to cover this land.

Many a time that bill went through Congress, to the Senate it would go
Even if it passed the Senate, it would only meet a President’s veto.

But when Roosevelt got elected, he went to Muscle Shoals
We will build a power plant here and at Cove Creek a flood control.

Then he called Congress to an extra session, and they gave him full control.
He shut down every bank in America to stop the hoarding gold.

So, goodbye to old Union County, the dear sweet home of my birth,
There’s no other place I’ll put before her–She’s the sweetest place on earth.

Here we have our trials and troubles, but to each other we are kind and true.
Will we find in some other county, people like me and you?

They say that this is just a project–the best the South’s ever owned.
If it is going to bring in so much money, why can’t they pay us more for our homes?

There are people who have no land to sell and have nothing to fear or dread,
But it will touch the hearts of ten thousand, when they come to remove the dead.

For we all have folks that are buried, it will bring remembrances back to our mind.
But we don’t want to leave them sleeping in the flooded water behind

Of course, it is bringing in some money for those people at work night and day
But just think of the fond hearts it’s breaking for the ones that are old and gray.

The sad hour is yet to come when we leave our dear friends and our homes
For they say that the water will cover the dear place where we all love to roam.

The best land we have will be flooded in Union County, Tennessee,
But they say they will reforest the waste land by setting out black locust trees.

When the dam is fully completed, and the wild beast takes our place,
I wish old Senator Norris had to come here and to live by the sweat of his face.

Is there no such a thing as a river up there at Senator Norris’ home?
If there is, why couldn’t he have built him a dam of his own.

It won’t be long ‘til we’ll be scattered. We’ll be drifting in every way.
But if we will live true to Jesus, He will gather us together some day.

As you go across old Clinch River, you may look at the mountains and the hills,
But the next time you see that old river she may be all eddy and still.