Your dreaming boy, she'll never look your way
And how her beauty ran down to her soul
She'd walk across the coal miner's yard
As he brushed the hair back from my eyes and he'd say
Talk about the man that came to town
The Van Lear rose
Ohio river to big sandy
When he talked about her big blue eyes
A beauty to behold like a diamond in the coal
He'd pull out that old photograph
Ohio river to big sandy
Underneath that ol' blue Kentucky sky
A beauty to behold like a diamond in the coal
Stole the heart of the Van Lear rose
Talk about the man that came to town
Until' this poor boy caught her eye
Well, that poor boy won that beauty's heart
Right under their nose
All the miner's they would gather 'round
Ohio river to big sandy
Then my daddy would look at my mommy and smile
Right under their nose
Them miner's would yell loud and hard
Stole the heart of the Van Lear rose
You'll never ever hold the Van Lear rose
She was the belle of Johnson county
Oh how it would bring a smile
She was the belle of Johnson county
All the miner's they would gather 'round
Talk about the man that came to town
His buddies would all laugh and say
Then one night in mid July
She was the belle of Johnson county
Right under their nose
Right under their nose
Your mama, she's the Van Lear rose
And they'd dream of who would hold
Stole the heart of the Van Lear rose
And say, "Child this, here's the Van Lear rose"
A beauty to behold like a diamond in the coal
Like a treasured memory from the past
Listenin' to the stories that he told
All the miner's they would gather 'round
Now the Van Lear rose could've had her pick
And all the fellers figured rich
