So I’m listening to Conway Twitty’s version of “Rocky Top”, a bluegrass classic. In it he says, “…that’s why all the folks in Rocky Top get their corn from a jar…”
Can I assume he’s referring to pre-packaged corn in cans and not jars since cans would ruin the rhyme scheme set in the previous line, “…dirt’s too rocky by far…”?
Well that, and corn liquor. Y’know, out of the Mason jar?
Naw… corn liquor.
The implication is moonshine.
Liquor distilled from corn mash into mason jars.
Peace.
Of course, I would miss the obvious. Perhaps that’s why the “two strangers” who climbed ol’ Rocky Top “lookin’ for a moonshine still” never came back!
I reckon they never will!
Yes indeed, getting a bit o’ that “Mountain Dew” they were.
Ok, I have every version of Rocky Top ever made (have you ever heard the club mix) and I have never thought of this. It does come the same verse as the strangers disappearing however, so you may have a point.
Once two strangers climbed ol’ Rocky Top
Looking for a moonshine still
Strangers ain’t come down from Rocky Top
Reckon they never will
Corn won’t grow at all on Rocky Top
Dirt’s too rocky by far
That’s why all the folks on Rocky Top
Get their corn from a jar
Also, I never could figure out what he was saying about that girl that he still dreams about. It is:
Half bear, other half cat
Wild as a mink, but sweet as soda pop
I still dream about that.
Just in case you were wondering too.
It is indeed moonshine (this confirmed for me by TN natives while in Chattanooga). Does anyone else find it a bit scary that this particular Team Song venerates a hillbilly murder…? :eek:
It’s not only University of Tennesee’s theme song, it is also one of our state songs. And it’s not just a hillbilly murder…it’s a murder of two federal agents by an illegal moonshiner. And they say "Don’t mess with Texas " HA! 
Cite?
Well, I heard tell one time a reporter asked an old moonshiner years after Prohibition had been lifted, “Is it true that some of the Federal Agents who went into the woods never came out again?”
"Could be, " the old moonshiner said. “But they all got a good Christian burial.” 
How many versions are there? I’ve only heard a couple and Conway’s is my favorite.
Originally posted by Mr. Blue Sky
How many versions are there? I’ve only heard a couple and Conway’s is my favorite.
Possibly as many variations as there are artists that performed it. According to the booklet:The Smithsonian Collection of Classic Country Music, “Rocky Top” was written by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant of Nashville. The version that Smithsonian selected for their collection was performed by the Osborne Brothers, and has a very bluegrassy sound.
samclem : If you lived in moonshinin’ territory, you wouldn’t need a cite. 
In Tennessee, “Well, I heard tell one time” is all the cite you gonna get, boy.
For a Doper from Dublin, you sound like you know Tennesee purty good, son.
And yes, my cite is I’m born and raised Tennessean…somethings you just gotta know by living here. But my thanks to everyone who already explained that for me
My home town is Johnson City, Tennessee, and I’ve had some pretty damned good corn from a jar. Also, I think state law allows you to kill two federal revenuers before a penalty kicks in.
samclem wrote:
Its not clear how much more transparent the meaning of the line in question would have to be not to require a cite by whatever standards are being used here.
Why thank you, but I’m cheatin’: my ma and pa live in the Tennessee Hills.