Stranger to blue water

Question

All my memories, gather round herModest lady, stranger to blue waterDark and dusty, painted on the skyMisty taste of moonshine, teardrop in my eyeHi,The above is from "Country Road." Can you interpret the last three lines for me? Thanks.

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

The meaning of poems and song lyrics is subjective. Often there are multiple interpretations, all of which are reasonable.

Here's mine.

"her" is the mountain referred to earlier in the song.
The singer is saying that the mountain holds many memories for him.
He compares the mountain to a modest lady. Apparently, it doesn't have any particularly striking features.

"stranger to blue water" is difficult. The reference may be to any of the following or others:

1. West Virginia is a land-locked state, so it has no shore on either the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean. The water of the oceans would be the "blue water" that the state is stranger to, i.e., the ocean water doesn't know about West Virginia.
2. The "lady" is dirty from not washing (with 'blue water'). This may be a reference to the coal mining in the region and/or the pollution of the water in the streams of that state from coal mining operations. ???
3. Though called "Blue Ridge", "blue" refers to an atmospheric effect, nothing to do with water.
4. No reference at all. Simply some nice-sounding words to go with the number of syllables required by the tones of the music.

"dark and dusty" is also a reference to an atmospheric effect, and also possibly to coal dust.

The mountain looks as if it were painted on the sky.

"Moonshine" is home-made whiskey. It became popular to make alcoholic beverages at home (illegally) during the time when alcohol was prohibited by law, a period known as "Prohibition", mostly in the 1920's. This sort of activity has long been associated in American culture with people who live in the mountains - even though people who lived in urban areas also made alcoholic drinks illegally during the same period. I don't know if there is a logical explanation for this association of ideas.

"teardrop in my eye" The singer is on the verge of tears because he is so homesick for West Virginia.

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

bluewater is another name for moonshine an old name from way back
many women did not drink even though their husbands did.

Panda gray 531 · Answer

'Miner's lady, stranger to blue water.'
Coal mining is integral to West Virginia. West Virginia is the 'miner's lady'. West Virginia is landlocked and a stranger to the blue waters of the ocean.

Stranger to blue water

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