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HIGH COUNTRY SNOWS
RIAA Certified - Gold

 

Released April 1985 by Epic Records. All compositions by Dan Fogelberg (©1985/Hickory Grove Music-ASCAP) except: "Down The Road"(E. Scruggs/L. Flatt), "The Outlaw" and "Go Down Easy"(Jay Bolotin); "Think What You've Done"(Carter Stanley)

 

Down The Road
Mountain Pass
Sutter's Mill
Wolf Creek
High Country Snows
The Outlaw
Shallow Rivers
Go Down Easy
Wandering Shepherd
Think Of What You've Done
The Higher You Climb

Credits

 

Down The Road
Dan Fogelberg - vocals
Herb Pedersen- vocals

 

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

 

Sutter's Mill
Dan Fogelberg - acoustic guitar, lead vocal, harmony vocals
Herb Pedersen - banjo, harmony vocals
Jim Buchanan - fiddles
Jerry Douglas - dobro
Charlie McCoy - harmonica
Emory Gordy, Jr - bass
Russ Kunkel - drums

 

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

 

High Country Snows
Dan Fogelberg - acoustic guitar, piano, lead vocal
Chris Hillman- mandolins, harmony vocals
Al Perkins - pedal steel
Emory Gordy, Jr - bass
Russ Kunkel - drums
Herb Pedersen - harmony vocals

 

The Outlaw
Dan Fogelberg - acoustic and electric guitars, lead and harmony vocals
David Grisman - mandolin
Herb Pedersen - banjo
Jerry Douglas - dobro
Jim Buchanan - fiddles
Emory Gordy, Jr - bass
Russ Kunkel - drums

 

Shallow Rivers
Dan Fogelberg - acoustic guitar, lead and harmony vocals
Herb Pedersen - banjo, harmony vocals
Charlie McCoy - harmonica
David Grisman - mandolin
Jerry Douglas - dobro
Jim Buchanan - fiddles
Emory Gordy, Jr - bass
Russ Kunkel - drums

 

Go Down Easy
Dan Fogelberg - acoustic and electric guitars, lead and harmony vocals, hand claps
Jerry Douglas - dobro
Barry (Byrd) Burton - dobro
Michael Hanna - Yamaha DX-7 synthesizer
Emory Gordy, Jr - bass
Russ Kunkel - drums, tambourine, hand claps
Don Murakami - hand claps

 

Wandering Shepherd
Dan Fogelberg - acoustic guitars, lead vocals
Vince Gill - high tenor harmony
Herb Pedersen - tenor and bass harmony vocals

 

Think Of What You've Done
Dan Fogelberg - acoustic guitars, lead vocals
Herb Pedersen - banjo
David Grisman - mandolin
Jim Buchanan - fiddle
Emory Gordy, Jr - bass
Russ Kunkel - drums
Ricky Skaggs - harmony

 

The Higher You Climb
Dan Fogelberg - acoustic guitars, electric guitar, Kurzweil synthesizer, lead and harmony vocals
Al Perkins - pedal steel
Emory Gordy, Jr - bass
Russ Kunkel - drums
David Briggs - piano
Tracy Nelson - background vocals
Dianne Davidson - background vocals
Anita Bell - background vocals

 

Produced by Dan Fogelberg with Marty Lewis for Full Moon Productions
Recorded at - The Bennett House, Franklin, Tennessee

 

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 

 

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 

Well 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 

 

 

 

Sutter's Mill 

 

In the spring of Forty-seven so the story it is told 

Old John Sutter went to the mill site and 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

 

(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 

 

(Chorus)

 

And some would curse John Sutter’s Mill 

Some men’s thirsts are never filled

 

 

 

Wolf Creek 

Instrumental

 

 

 

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 

'Til he finds him a woman and treasures her touch 

When the lakes all lie 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

 

 

 

The Outlaw 

 

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 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) 

 

 

 

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 'til 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 

How I long to see the sunrise on a peaceful sea 

 

(Chorus)

 

 

 

 

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 a-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) 

 

 

 

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 

 

 

 

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 of 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’ll go back to Colorado where the mountains meet the sky 

It was here I learned to love you and I’ll stay here 'til I die 

(Chorus twice) 

 

 

 

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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