County where John Prine was once controversial now has a park named for him, at the place he wanted his soul to be

A crowd gathered at the park on the Green River for the dedication. (Hoptown Chronicle photos by Jennifer P. Brown)

When I die let my ashes float down the Green River. Let my soul roll on up to the Rochester dam. I’ll be halfway to Heaven with Paradise waitin’, just five miles away from wherever I am. —John Prine, "Paradise"

"Few places in rural America are so cherished for their connection to a song as Muhlenberg County is to people who revered the singer-songwriter John Prine for his blend of country and folk music. His song 'Paradise' — about the tiny coal town on the Green River that was wiped out by strip mining — immortalized the community for generations of listeners," writes Jennifer P. Brown of the Hoptown Chronicle, in Hopkinsville in adjoining Christian County, Kentucky.

Muhlenberg County, Kentucky
(Wikipedia map, adapted)

But when the song came out in 1971, and for many years afterward, it and Prine (whose Chicago parents were from Muhlenberg County) were controversial because the county's economy was based largely on coal. Those days have passed, and the Tennessee Valley Authority steam plant named for the vanished town now makes electricity from natural gas, not coal. And now there's a memorial to Prine, who died in April 2020 of Covid-19.

It's the John Prine Memorial Park at Rochester Dam. Prine fans "came from across Kentucky and from as far away as San Francisco and Seattle" for Saturday's dedication, Brown writes. "Parking their cars and trucks in a field where corn had recently been harvested, they carried lawn chairs, guitars, cameras and dogs up to the park. Numerous John Prine concert T-shirts, many faded and worn with age, were scattered throughout the audience. Some of his fans leaned on canes."

Prine's widow, Fiona Whelan-Prine, spoke at the dedication. (JPB photo)

Reinforcing the official acceptance of Prine, "County Judge-Executive Curtis McGehee announced at the dedication that every October will be celebrated as John Prine Month in Muhlenberg County. A committee of local volunteers and the Muhlenberg County Tourism Commission led efforts to improve the park ahead of the dedication. A new pavilion with a red roof was built and picnic tables were installed. There are plans for a viewing deck at the river’s edge and for a new boat ramp. . . . The audience sang 'Paradise' to close the dedication. Some of them stayed to eat banana pudding, John Prine’s favorite dessert, under the new pavilion bearing his name."