You're a cousin to the mountains And a sister to each pine You tremble like an ever-flowing glass of wine You like sand instead of carpets With a thousand watts of Sun And quick wingbeats in place of clocks To tell your time You're at home on any hilltop But you cry on Ferris wheels And you lose yourself In other people's lives Oh, my Tennessee Madonna Country daughter of the plain Your days revolve in crystal worlds Of falling rain My altar is your slanting knees Where I whisper my nightly thoughts Yet I never, never fear the flame That burns inside There are children lost inside of you Just waiting to be born As a happy compromise Of you and me You're at home on any hilltop But you cry on Ferris wheels And you lose yourself In other people's lives Oh, my Tennessee Madonna Country daughter of the plain Your days revolve in crystal worlds Of falling rain