“When I Die Let My Ashes Float Down the Green River, Let My Soul Roll on Up to the Rochester Dam” (Part 2)

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The lovely countryside on the banks of the Green River in Muhlenberg County has been immortalized in John Prine’s song “Paradise,” easily one of his best-known and most-covered tunes. The area has been grateful, too. We lost John Prine in 2020, an early victim of COVID-19. The area near where Paradise, Kentucky used to be has paid tribute to the legendary folk/rock singer. While he was still living, US 231, the “main road” in the town of Drakesboro (and the road you turn off of to go to “where Paradise lay”) was renamed John Prine Avenue. After he passed away, the park that sits at the site of the Rochester Dam (which, to be truthful, is in Butler County, not Muhlenberg County) was renamed the John Prine Memorial Park at Rochester Dam. When the park was dedicated Prine’s widow, in keeping with the lyrics to the song (“When I die let my ashes float down the Green River, let my soul roll on up to the Rochester Dam”), scattered some of Prine’s ashes into the Green River at the dam. In the collage you see the street sign in Drakesboro, as well as the Prine Memorial Park sign (with the Rochester Dam in the background). Also, you can see some flowers that were left at the dam by grateful fans.