High Country Snows

 

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Release Date - April 1985, Full Moon/Epic Records
Producer - Dan Fogelberg with Marty Lewis
Tracks (click song title for lyrics)

  1. Down The Road **  (Dan Fogelberg, Herb Pedersen & Ricky Skaggs - vocals)

  2. Mountain Pass(Dan Fogelberg - acoustic guitar, lead vocal; Herb Pedersen - banjo; David Grisham - mandolin; Jim Buchanan - fiddle; Emory Gordy, Jr. - bass; Russ Kunkel - drums; Jerry Douglas - dobro; Ricky Skaggs & Herb Pedersen - harmony vocals)

  3. Sutter's Mill(Dan Fogelberg - acoustic guitars, lead vocal; Herb Pedersen - banjo; Jerry Douglas - dobro; Jim Buchanan - fiddles; Charlie McCoy - harmonicas; Emory Gordy, Jr. - bass; Russ Kunkel - drums; Herb Pedersen 7 Dan Fogelberg - harmony vocals)

  4. Wolf Creek(Doc Watson - melody acoustic guitar; Dan Fogelberg - harmony acoustic guitar; Herb Pedersen - banjo; Jerry Douglas - dobro; David Grisman - mandolin & mandola; Jim Buchanan - fiddle; Emory Gordy, Jr. - bass; Russ Kunkel - drums)

  5. High Country Snows(Dan Fogelberg - acoustic guitars, piano, lead vocals; Chris Hillman - mandolins; Al Perkins - pedal steel guitar; Emory Gordy, Jr. - bass; Russ Kunkel - drums; Chris Hillman & Herb Pedersen - harmony vocals)

  6. The Outlaw ***  (Dan Fogelberg - acoustic & electric guitar, lead & harmony vocals; David Grisman - mandolin; Herb Pedersen - banjo; Jerry Douglas - dobro; Jim Buchanan - fiddles; Emory Gordy, Jr. - bass; Russ Kunkel - drums)

  1. Shallow Rivers(Dan Fogelberg - acoustic guitar, lead vocal; Herb Pedersen - banjo; Charlie McCoy - harmonica; David Grisman - mandolin; Jim Buchanan - fiddle; Jerry Douglas - dobro; Emory Gordy, Jr. - bass; Russ Kunkel - drums; Herb Pedersen & Dan Fogelberg - harmony vocals)
  2. Go Down Easy ****  (Dan Fogelberg - acoustic & electric guitars, lead & harmony  vocals; Jerry Douglas & Barry [Byrd] Burton - dobro; Michael Hanna - Yamaha DX-7 synthesizer; Emory Gordy, Jr. - bass; Russ Kunkel - drums, tambourine; Russ Kunkel, Dan Fogelberg, Dan Murakami - hand claps)
  3. Wandering Shepherd(Dan Fogelberg - lead vocal, acoustic guitars; Vince Gill - high tenor harmony vocals; Herb Pedersen - tenor & bass harmony vocals)
  4. Think Of What You've Done(Dan Fogelberg - acoustic guitar, lead vocal; Herb Pedersen - banjo; David Grisman - mandolin; Jim Buchanan - fiddle; Emory Gordy, Jr. - bass; Russ Kunkel - drums; Ricky Skaggs & Herb Pedersen - harmony vocals)
  5. The Higher You Climb(Dan Fogelberg - acoustic guitars, electric guitar, lead & harmony vocals, Kurzweil synthesizer; Al Perkins - pedal steel guitar; David Briggs - piano; Emory Gordy, Jr. - bass; Russ Kunkel - drums; Tracy Nelson, Dianne Davidson, Anita Ball - background vocals)

 

written by Dan Fogelberg, ©1985 Hickory Grove Music & April Music Inc. (ASCAP).
** written by Earl Scruggs & Lester Flatt, ©1950 CBS Unart Catalog, Inc. (BMI)
*** written by Jay Bolotin,  ©1984 Doc Ousley Music (BMI)
**** written by Jay Bolotin, ©1973 Irving Music Inc./Danor Music Inc. (BMI)
^ written by Carter Stanley, ©1959 Fred Rose Music, Inc. (BMI)

Certified - Gold
Recorded at - Bennett House, Franklin, TN
Engineer - Marty Lewis
Photography - Joel Bernstein
Album Design - Kosh & Ron Larson
Notes - This album of bluegrass and American traditional music was inspired by a trip to the 1983 Telluride Bluegrass Festival in Telluride, Colorado.  In 1993, Dan returned to the Festival as the headline act and reunited with many of the musicians featured on this record.  (I was there -- it was magnificent !!!)

Lyrics

Down The Road

Down the road 
Down the road 
Got a little pretty girl, Down the Road 
Down the road 
Down the road 
Got a little pretty girl, down the road 

Back

Mountain Pass

Well, I'm runnin' down this mountain pass at midnight;
Those truckers, they all flash their lights at me.
This highway ain't the very best companion, 
'cause I know there's somewhere else I'd rather be.

The moonlight on the snow just sets me thinking
'Bout the way your smile shines upon your face.
And I know this ain't the last beer I'll be drinking
Before I reach my final resting place
Oh, I...

(Chorus)
...wish that I was in your arms a' sleeping,
Dreaming of the sweet love we just made,
But I'm runnin' down this mountain pass at midnight,
Wishin' I was in your arms again.

Oh my wheels are running hard against this mountain,
I finally crossed the Archuleta line.
Another hour and I'll be with my darlin'
To dry those lonesome tears that she's been cryin'
But I...

(Chorus)
 

I'm runnin' down this mountain pass at midnight;
Those truckers, they all flash their lights at me.
This highway ain't the very best companion, 
'cause I know there's somewhere else I'd rather be.
Oh, I...

(Chorus)

I am runnin' down this mountain pass at midnight,
Wishin' I was in your arms again.

Back

Sutter's Mill

In the Spring of Forty-seven,
So the story, it is told,
Old John Sutter went to the mill site
Found a piece of shining gold.

Well, he took it to the city
Where the word, like wildfire, spread.
And old John Sutter soon came to wish he'd
Left that stone in the river bed.

For they came like herds of locusts
Every woman, child and man
In their lumbering Conestogas
They left their tracks upon the land.

(Chorus)
Some would fail and some would prosper
Some would die and some would kill
Some would thank the Lord for their deliverance
And some would curse John Sutter's Mill.

Well, they came from New York City,
And they came from Alabam'
With their dreams of finding fortunes
In this wild unsettled land.

Well, some fell prey to hostile arrows
As they tried to cross the plains.
And some were lost in the Rocky Mountains
With their hands froze to the reins.
Oh...

(Chorus)

Well, some pushed on to California
And others stopped to take their rest.
And by the Spring of Eighteen-sixty
They had opened up the west.

And then the railroad came behind them
And the land was plowed and tamed,
When Old John Sutter went to meet his maker,
He'd not one penny to his name.
Oh...

(Chorus)

And some would curse John Sutter's Mill
Some men's thirsts are never filled.

Back

Wolf Creek 
(
instrumental)

Back

High Country Snows

There's a place in the Rockies
A place that I know
Where the world cannot find me
And the time goes so slow.
In the piney wood forest
There's a flower that grows
Through the long months of winter
And the high country snows.

To a house by a meadow
'Neath the towering peaks
Is a place where my heart goes
When it's love that it seeks.
There a woman lies waiting
Like the wild growing rose
Through the long months of winter
And the high country snows.

In the space of a lifetime
A man misses much
Till he finds him a woman
And treasures her touch.
When the lakes all are frozen
And the wild wind blows
I'll return to my darlin'
And the high country snows.
I'll return to my darlin'
And the high country snows.

Back

The Outlaw

Among the possesions of an outlaw of a low class kind
Is this little bottle of French perfume
Taken as a last thought from a drug store in suburbia
He said, "Lady, look what I've got for you."
She said, "Jesse, I don't hardly even know you anymore.
And judging from your grin, you'd think you held up Henry Ford.
And I don't believe I want you a comin' 'round here anymore. Ooh."

Jesse, he was hurt, boy, and he left there, and he slammed the door.
And he wandered through the alleyways.
Thinkin' all the while that she'd be proud of what he stole for her,
And he tried to think of better ways.
Dreamin' of a movie that he'd seen one afternoon,
He drew out all his savings and he went and bought a gun.
And he ran right home and stood before his mirror
Acting like a thug, ooh.

He waited for a dark night; he was frightened, boy, the fog rolled in,
As a rich man, he came walkin' by,
"Hold your hands up high," he cried,
"I've come to make your fortune mine."
But his eyes, they gave him right away,
Jesse dropped the gun and they both stared at to where it lay.
And Jesse asked the man if he'd please leave him in his pain.
And the man tried to forgive him, but there's not much he could say. Ooh.

Among the possessions of an outlaw of a low class kind
Is this little bottle of French perfume
Taken as a last thought from a drugstore in suburbia.
He said, "Lady, look what I've got for you."
"Ah, take it, ah, please take it; I'm tired and I'm poor.
And this crappy French perfume is nothin' less than my own soul.
I was feelin' half a man; I wanted to feel whole, ooh."
Oooh...ooh,ooh.

Back

Shallow Rivers

Shallow rivers run between us
Where a stone may never sink.
Though we taste, we are left thirsty
For a deep and soulful drink.

Narrow channels, barely open
Fraught with dangers out of view;
In the current, we are helpless
Still I cling to you.

(Chorus)
Grab me woman, take me under,
Till I can't tell up from down.
We have barely got our feet wet
and I want, I want to drown.

Shallow rivers run between us
Never mind the nevermore,
Up ahead the water quickens;
I can hear those rapids roar.

Narrow channels, barely open
Flood the waves with treachery,
Hope I long to see the sunrise
On a peaceful sea.

(Chorus)

Back

Go Down Easy

Linda lost her lover in the early part of autumn
And she moved out to the country
Hoping all would be forgotten.
The last time that I saw her
She was makin' sure the winter
Wouldn't come through that old door frame
Where the door is several inches from the ground,
The cold hard ground.

(Chorus)
And it's hard to go down easy;
And it's hard to keep from cryin';
And it's hard to lose a lover
In the early part of autumn.

Well, she learned to cook the meals
And she learned to start the fire;
And she learned to make jewelry
Out of stones and precious metals.
She sits down to the table
With her friends and several others
And she tries real hard to never be alone.

(Chorus)

Now the winter wind blows cold
Upon a fair and gentle soul
And she feels as if her time is passin' easy.
Her friends are sometimes lovers,
Though they'll always be another
She thinks about when the night time lays on down.

(Chorus) twice

Back

Wandering Shepherd

Wandering shepherd, wander no more
Wandering shepherd, wander no more
Wandering shepherd, wander no more
Lay down your troubles, your worries and woes.

Traveling pilgrim, rest for the night
Traveling pilgrim, rest for the night
Traveling pilgrim, rest for the night
Sup with the Savior and drink of his Light.

Homeless believer, find here a home
Homeless believer, find here a home
Homeless believer, find here a home
You may be lonely but never alone.

Wandering shepherd, wander no more
Wandering shepherd, wander no more
Wandering shepherd, wander no more
Lay down your troubles, your worries and woes

Back

 

Think Of What You've Done

(Chorus)
Is it true that I've lost you?
Am I not the only one?
After all this pain and sorrow,
Darlin', think what you've done.

Heart to heart, dear, how I need you
Like the flowers need the dew.
Lovin' you has been my life, love
Lord, I can't believe we're through.

(Chorus)

Well, I've go back to Colorado,
Where the mountains meet the sky.
It was here I learned to love you
And I'll stay here till I die.

(Chorus) Twice

Back

The Higher You Climb

The higher you climb,
The more that you see.
The more that you see,
The less that you know.
The less that you know,
The more that you yearn.
The more that you yearn,
The higher you climb.

The farther you reach,
The more that you touch.
The more that you touch,
The fuller you feel.
The fuller you feel,
The less that you need.
The less that you need,
The farther you reach.

The higher you climb,
The more that you see.
The more that you see,
The less that you know.
The less that you know,
The more that you yearn.
The more that you yearn,
The higher you climb.

The higher you climb,
The more that you see.
The more that you see,
The less that you know.
The less that you know,
The more that you yearn.
The more that you yearn,
The higher you climb.

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This page was last modified Sunday, August 13, 2000

Copyright © 2003 - Wynn Drumm. All rights reserved.