the john muir exhibit - sound_and_music - mariposa

John of the Mountains - Lyrics

by Matthew Werner

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From the liner notes from Mariposa's "The First Light of Dawn" album:

John Muir was a naturalist who founded the Sierra Club and helped preserve Yosemite Valley in California. Wawona means "Big Trees" after the Giant Sequoia. The water ouzel is a bird found in the Sierra Nevada and the California coast ranges. Hetch Hetchy Valley was damned to provide water to San Francisco in 1923. The words of the refrain are adapted from Muir's own writings.

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Refrain :
Climb the mountains,
get their good tidings
Nature's peace will flow into you
like sunshine flowing into trees.
The winds will blow
their own freshness unto you
And the storms their energy
While cares will drop off
like autumn leaves.
John of the Mountains
John of the Mountains

He might have been a millionaire,
but he chose to be a tramp
His life was rich in wonder,
he had time to travel far
The mountains were his place of rest,
a refuge from the
roar and dust
The endlesss, weary, wasting work,
that all of us know too well
Dwelling in the bustle
of the lowlands

Refrain :
Climb the mountains,
get their good tidings
Nature's peace will flow into you
like sunshine flowing into trees.
The winds will blow
their own freshness unto you
And the storms their energy
While cares will drop off
like autumn leaves.
John of the Mountains
John of the Mountains

He only went out walking, but he
stayed out 'till the sun went down
for going out he finally found
is really going in
He watched with a keen eye
the flowing currents
of this life -
Wawona and
water ouzel,
stars streaming
on through space,
Pulsing in the warm
heart of nature.

John of the mountains
Watched pollen pastures ravaged
into grazing grounds for sheep
John of the mountains
He called out for protection
of the blessed Range
of Light
John of the mountains
Fought the damning of
Hetch Hetchy
But we damned ourselves when we let that valley go

Refrain :
Climb the mountains,
get their good tidings
Nature's peace will flow into you
like sunshine flowing into trees.
The winds will blow
their own freshness unto you
And the storms their energy
While cares will drop off
like autumn leaves.
John of the Mountains
John of the Mountains

© Copyright 1993 by Mattthew Werner

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