04 January 2024
Many Americans have returned to work or school as the holiday season comes to an end. Some traveled far to be with loved ones for Christmas and New Year's Day.
Last month, we looked at the song Take Me Home, Country Roads. For many people from the state of West Virginia and the Appalachia mountains, the song reminds them of home. John Denver recorded the hit song in 1971. Lana Del Rey recently recorded her version of the song.
In today's Everyday Grammar, we will continue looking at parts of Del Rey's version of the song and connect it to grammar and figurative language.
Let's look at the last section of the song.
All my memories gather 'round her
Miner's lady, stranger to blue water
Dark and dusty, painted on the sky
Misty taste of moonshine, teardrop in my eye
I hear her voice in the morning hour, she calls me
The radio reminds me of my home far away
Driving down the road, I get a feeling
That I should have been home yesterday, yesterday
More personification
In the first two verses of each section, West Virginia is humanized once again using personification. Personification is the humanization of a non-living thing.
The use of the subject and object pronouns "she" and "her" give a female quality to the state. That personification of West Virginia as a woman also appears in the chorus of the song when it is referred to as "mountain mama."
"Her voice" and "she calls me" add to the female characteristics of the state.
"Miner's lady" and "stranger to blue water" are other personified comparisons in the song. West Virginia is known for its coal and limestone mines throughout the state. Many European immigrants came to West Virginia in the late 1800s and early 1900s to work in the mines.
"Stanger to blue water" is a reference to West Virginia's geographic location as a landlocked state. A stranger is an unfamiliar person. The phrase is noting that the state is not near an ocean and is unfamiliar to blue ocean waters.
Adjectives
And finally, we have more adjectives. Today we look at descriptive adjectives, not comparative adjectives.
Dark and dusty, painted on the sky
Misty taste of moonshine, teardrop in my eye
"Dark and dusty" refer to the "miner's lady" line and coal mining. Coal is a dark, natural substance found in the earth. West Virginia and other parts of the Appalachian region are rich in this resource. It also creates dusty particles that fill the air. That combination "paints" or covers the sky.
The line "misty taste of moonshine" also has a descriptive adjective. "Misty" has several meanings. "Mist," the noun form of the word, means water in the form of very small drops floating in the air. So, "misty" means full of mist. It can also describe something that is not clearly seen or remembered. Finally, it can describe eyes that are full of tears. In fact, "misty-eyed" means the same thing as "tearful."
Moonshine is a kind of alcohol that is made illegally. Making moonshine was especially common in the hills of Appalachia during Prohibition, which lasted from 1920 to 1933.
The alcohol was moved by car at night and the bootleggers could only see by the light of the moon. That is where it got its name.
It is not common to describe a taste or flavor as "misty." But there are a few possible meanings. Since "moonshine" was strong, drinking it could leave one's eyes "misty" or filled with tears. The "misty" flavor of moonshine could also refer to the illegal way of producing and transporting the alcohol without anyone knowing.
Final thoughts
Today we looked at the rest of the song Country Roads. We found even more personification by comparing West Virginia to a woman with words like, "miner's lady" and "her voice."
We found even more adjectives that were used to describe parts of Appalachian culture like "dark and dusty" for coal mining and "misty taste of moonshine" to describe a strong alcohol flavor that could bring tears to one's eyes.
I'm Faith Pirlo.
Faith Pirlo wrote this lesson for VOA Learning English.
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Words in This Story
figurative – adj. used with a meaning that is different from the basic meaning
misty – adj. full of or covered with mist.
verse – n. writing in which words are arranged in a rhythmic pattern: poetry or song
chorus – n. part of a song that is repeated; a large organized group of singers
characteristic –n. a quality that a person has that makes them different, or similar, to others
bootlegger - n. someone who sells products illegally, often without providing the requires taxes to government