Way back in the distant past
Five hundred million years or greater
Tennessee was a tectonic plate
Under the ocean near the equator.
In a few million years the plates began
A steady northern migration
Volcanoes blew and the earth arose
To form the Appalachians.
The range of mountains began to form
Four hundred million years ago
And sandstone formations
Along the Cumberland Plateau
The Paleozoic and the Mesozoic
Built the hills just like a mason
And in the Cenozoic era
Appeared the Nashville basin.
Beneath the limestone, sandstone, and shale,
The earth moved as it must
And formed the Blue Ridge mountains
By subhorizontal thrust.
And here on plutonic igneous rocks
On a Precambrian promontory
That is where I first met you
Which is a whole other story…
Every Moment Has A Song 