A friend of mine told me a very unlikely theory for this song.
It is said that the tv series "Northern Exposure" idea was influenced by the film Local Hero, and this song seems to be the plot of Local Hero but it ends with the city sold to the oil, and the main female character, Stella, is very dissapointed. The main female character in Northern Exposure, Maggie O'Connell, was played by actrice JANINE Turner.
As I said, very unlikely and just coincidental but I found this theory funny, as I really love Northern Exposure.