Shine for Gold

He left home in '49 and headed West in hopes to find
 The gold he was told hides in the hills
 His pockets filled with nuggets and thrills
 He brought along a recipe for shine
 A poor boy from Mississippi found a new way in the West
 He knew about corn whiskey and the secrets to make it best
 He found wealth untold
 Shine for gold
 In California, he built a still and a store to pay the bills
 He never had to pan the streams
 Money rolled in from shattered dreams
 They entered empty and he gave them their fill
 A poor boy from Mississippi found a new way in the West
 He knew about corn whiskey and the secrets to make it best
 He found wealth untold
 Shine for gold
 Every morning they'd line up at the door
 Drinking him dry, craving more for ore
 He'd pour as their poor guts spilled out on the floor
 They cleaned out the store
 He shut down in '65, a letter from home arrived
 One night a fight in the town, cold-hearted Yankees burned it down
 He headed back with passion divine
 As he headed back to Mississippi, loaded up all of his wealth
 And he packed up his corn whiskey
 To boost morale and health
 But his luck didn't hold
 On his tombstone they wrote
 Shine for gold
 Shine on