Burke Ingraffia: vocals, guitar
Cale Pellick: accordion
Jeff Burke: banjo, mandolin
Jesse Boyd: bass,
Eloise Chopin: cello
Matt Rhody: violin
David Rebeck: viola
Grayson Capps: background vocals
This is a song I wrote for my Italian/American grandfather who lived to be 103.
Lyrics
There’s a town called Independence
The Italian families worked the farms together.
It was a time of the elements, and they say
You could see strawberry fields forever
Independence, Independence
There’s always one on whom you can rely
Independence, Independence
Maybe it’s a coincidence
But the fig trees bloom the first week of July
There’s a man; my father’s father
He lived his whole life in Independence
He still pulls the bushhog with the tractor
96 years in residence
Independence, Independence
There’s always one on whom you can rely
Independence, Independence
And so much common sense; the two things that keep him still alive
After the war, he built the dairy
His brother John was gone in ’49
He had Rose; she knew he loved her
Now he stays at home and stretches dimes
Independence, Independence
There’s always one on whom you can rely
Independence, Independence
And so much common sense; the two things that keep him still alive
Maybe it’s a coincidence
But the fig trees bloom the first week of July
There’s a town called Independence
The Italian families worked the farms together.
It was a time of the elements, and they say
You could see strawberry fields forever