"Virginia Lorraine" describes my darlin wife, Regina Lorraine Judd. It started out
     as a mandolin break that I was playing around with. Kenny wrote a set of lyrics
     titled "Tears I've Cried" which we fit to the chord pattern of the mandolin break.
     Regina, Kenny, and I sang it together. It was a sort of a "broken heart" song. I 
     don't believe that we ever made a recording of it...Anyway, Kenny left Caney Fork
     in the Spring of 2003, and we never sang "Tears I've Cried" again. Soon after that,
     however, I salvaged the chord pattern, mandolin break, and tweaked the melody
     slightly. I had been working on the lyrics for some time, but couldn't find a
     fitting melody. The words and music just fell together, like magic. Regina's 1st
     name was tweaked slightly to give a suitable bluegrass "hook" to the title, but her
     old-fashioned middle name would shine like a diamond in this new "setting." At that
     time, our nation's military was engaged in the war in Afganistan, and Iraq. I wanted
     to say something to honor our soldiers, who were putting their lives, plans, and
     futures "on hold" so that the rest of us could go on with our lives "as normal"
     ---the army sent me far away, and I wrote her just to say, "Virginia Lorraine, will
     you marry me someday?"--- By the way, the dusty little country town was McMinnville,
     Tennessee, REgina really had run away from "her Pappy's farm" in nearby Cannon County,
     and she still can make the world's best cornbread...when she wants to! hope you enjoy
     this patchwork piece of bluegrass perfection. -RAJ-

     note on later changes: Although the chord pattern is the same for breaks, verses, and
     chorus, the number of measures is different for each. the 2nd verse was tweaked when
     recording the demo in 2005 to make all verses have the same number of measures. ie.
     "She practiced her religion in the strict..." was changed to "Her religion was the
     strict..." Also, the reference to cornbread in the 2nd verse was changed to "Martha
     White" in order to take advantage of the name recognition, and connection of Martha
     White to bluegrass history. The OK from Martha White Foods, Inc., is pending. -RAJ-


     Virginia Lorraine
     ©2003, Roger Judd, CaneyFork Publishing, BMI
     Key=A

       A           G         D             A
     I met my only true love in a dusty country town
          A                                           E
     With grace and charm, she brought fresh from the farm
             A            G              D                 A
     But the Army sent me far away and I wrote her just to say...
        A                        E            A
     Virginia Lorraine, will you marry me someday

     CHORUS:
     [      A        G               ]
     [ Now, tell me, tell me         ]
     [ D              A              ]
     [ tell me darlin true           ] 
     [          A                    ]
     [ will you wait for me Virginia ]
     [     A                 E       ]
     [ say you won't make me blue    ]

     [     A                G           ]
     [ she wouldn't go back to the farm ]
     [     D             A              ]
     [ for she had run away             ]
     [     A                            ]
     [ Virginia Lorraine                ]
     [       E             A            ]
     [ I'll marry you someday           ]

     The faded gingham skirt she wore had seen its better days
     Her religion was the strict old-fashioned way
     She cooked a meal with Martha White, its taste made me to say:
     Virginia Lorraine will you marry me someday

     Now I'm marching in the sand in a foreign, distant land
     She's a' marking time down on her Pappy's farm
     I'm hoping that another man don't steal her heart away
     You can mark it down Virginia, I'll marry you someday

     You can Mark it down, Virginia...