My father always promised us that we would live in France We'd go boating on the Seine, and I would learn to dance We lived in Ohio then, he worked in the mines On his dreams like boats we knew we'd 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 still, only danced alone The colors of my father's dreams faded without a sound And I live in Paris now, my children dance and dream Hearing the words of a miner's life in words they've never seen I sail my memories of home like boats across the Seine And watch the Paris sun set in my father's eyes again I sail my memories of home like boats across the Seine My father always promised us that we would live in France My father always promised us that we would live in France We'd go boating on the Seine, and I would learn to dance I sail my memories of home like boats across the Seine And watch the Paris sun set in my father's eyes again I sail my memories of home like boats across the Seine And watch the Paris sun set in my father's eyes again