Written around Thanksgiving time, this family song was inspired by President John Adams's wife's observation, "What a sad misfortune it is to have the body in one place while the soul is in another."

Lyrics

Mrs. Adams sailed for France a long, long time ago
She left her room and window where she'd write and watch the snow
She crossed the deep Atlantic to meet her husband there
said goodbye to her family and the clean New England air.

What a sad misfortune to leave your children and your brothers
and have the body in one place while the soul is in another.

Grandma came here in '23 all the way from Tennessee
orphaned with her sister--two southern refugees
She came up to her uncle's farm to work the Ohio fields
Spent her life in these flatlands while she longed for southern hills.

What a sad misfortune to lose your father and your mother
and have the body in one place while the soul is in another.

I'm back home on this day of thanks; I've been gone for far too long.
I strummed my father's old guitar on which I wrote my very first song.
How I love this quiet house; how I hate to go away
but I'll live with my choices and return another day.

What a sad misfortune to leave the hometown of your fathers
and have the body in one place while the soul is in another.

Mrs. Adams sailed for France a long, long time ago
She left her room and window where she'd write and watch the snow
She crossed the deep Atlantic to meet her husband there
Said goodbye to her family and the clean New England air.