Published 1913 | Language English | |
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Writer(s) Composer: Harry Carroll
Lyricist: Ballard MacDonald | ||
"The Trail of the Lonesome Pine" is a popular song published in 1913, with lyrics by Ballard MacDonald and music by Harry Carroll. Inspired by the John Fox, Jr.'s 1908 novel of the same title, the song expresses the singer's love for his "girl" June, who lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. The chorus is:
In the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, On the trail of the lonesome pine— In the pale moonshine our hearts entwine, Where she carved her name and I carved mine; Oh, June, like the mountains I'm blue— Like the pine I am lonesome for you, In the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, On the trail of the lonesome pine."The Trail of the Lonesome Pine" was featured in Laurel and Hardy's 1937 film Way Out West. It was performed by The Avalon Boys and featured a section sung in deep bass by Chill Wills, lip-synced by Stan Laurel in the film. In 1975, at a time when Laurel and Hardy films were popular on British television, the UK branch of United Artists Records produced an album of dialogue and songs, Laurel & Hardy – The Golden Age Of Hollywood Comedy, that included "The Trail of the Lonesome Pine". Released as a single, the song reached No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart, thanks largely to being championed by disc jockey John Peel on his Radio 1 evening show. The song was also recorded by Vivian Stanshall and (as "Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia") by Tokyo Blade.
The song is featured in the stage play The Trail Of The Lonesome Pine, and is played during the opening credits of the 1936 film adaptation. Since 1964, the play has been performed in an outdoor theater in Big Stone Gap, Virginia, hometown of the novel's author: it was designated the "official outdoor drama" by the Commonwealth of Virginia in 1994, and is now the sixth longest running outdoor drama in the United States.