My father always promised us we would live in France
We'd go sailing on the Seine and I would learn to dance
We lived in Ohio then and he worked in the mines
On his streams like boats we knew we would sail in time

All my sisters soon were gone to Denver and Cheyenne
Marrying their grown-up dreams, the lilacs and the man
I stayed behind the youngest and only danced alone
The colours of my father's dreams faded without a sound

And now I live in Paris and my children dance and dream
Hearing the story of a miner's life in words they've never seen
I sail my memories of old like boats across the Seine
And I watch the Paris sun set in my father's eyes again

My father always promised us we would live in France
We'd go sailing on the Seine and I would learn to dance