©2024 Tom Arnold / Deadbeat Music
When you coming home Johnny
I miss you so bad
The baby’s been crying
He misses his Dad
Ellie don’t understand
She’s acting out bad
And there’s a two thousand mile long
Hole in my heart
From that Montana oil field
That keeps us apart
Johnny
Missouri’s trees are brown Johnny
It’s dry as a bone
Even the corn’s dead Johnny
And the heat just goes on”
I’m not losing it Johnny
I’m just so alone
And there’s a two thousand mile long
Hole in my heart
From that Montana oil field
That keeps us apart
Johnny
Now Johnny felt lost without his wife and kids
When they got married didn’t bargain for this
Living in motels working twelve-hour shifts
Johnny faced into the sun
It blinded his eyes
He laughed just a little
Then started to cry
Then Johnny picked up his tools
Stepped out on the sand
He braced for the day
Then Johnny walked like a man
And there’s a two thousand mile long
Hole in my heart
From that Montana oil field
That keeps us apart
Johnny
The Bakken formation is one of the largest on-shore oil fields in the US, covering almost 9000 square miles across North Dakota and Montana.
In 2012, I drove across North Dakota and Montana where I learned the extent of this huge oil boom.
In 2014, direct employees plus additional employees accounted for more than 49,000 jobs in North Dakota.
The region lacked housing, schools and other infrastructure needed to house the families of workers. As a result many young families were split and separated, forced to live in different parts of the country.
This story is pure fiction. The situation that existed for separated families at that time were as painfully real as the fiction I wrote.
Released September 20, 2024
Ellen Whyte, vocal
Tom Arnold, vocal, guitar
Dean Baskerville, strings
Dean Baskerville and Tom Arnold, Producers
Dean Baskerville, Baskerville Recording, mixing and mastering
Noemi Rodriguez/Unsplash, cover and back panel photo
Scott Docherty/Redhare, Graphic Design, inside photos
