High Sierra Lyrics

High Sierra	Turncoat
Chasin' Sanborn	All the Countryside
I'm Time	On the Road to Canada
Oh, Susannah	Beginnings
Off to Sea	Do What Motleys Do
Mountain Time	Dreams

High Sierra

Words and Music by Dan McIlhenny

Earth n Wood Music ~ High Sierra Collection

Spring is melting into summer

Hibernation comes to end

A tiny bud opens to blossom

A brand new cycle has begun

Under the sun

High Sierra you’re a season

High Sierra you’re a song

High Sierra there’s so many reasons

We care about you

We’ve cared about you for so long

Fragileness grows into stronger

Awkwardness begins to wane

Life’s unfolding like a novel

A new page is written everyday

So we say

High Sierra you’re a season

High Sierra you’re a song

High Sierra there’s so many reasons

We care about you

We’ve cared about you for so long

Should there be another time

We choose to chase the Moon

Our love for you will always be the same

High Sierra you’re a season

High Sierra you’re a song

High Sierra there’s so many reasons

We care about you

We’ve cared about you for so long

Ah High Sierra

High Sierra

Ooh…

Chasin’ Sanborn

Words and Music by Dan McIlhenny

Earth n Wood Music ~ High Sierra Collection

When I was seven maybe eight, Heck, I don’t know

I had myself a Billy goat that kept me on the go

runnin’, jumpin’, kickin’ buttin’

Yep, he did all that, he’d knock me flat, grab my hat

And I’d say dang-it, bring-it back

Chasin’ Sanborn up the hills

Chasin’ Sanborn through the town

Sometime’s I swear he ate half the neighborhood down

Chasin’ Sanborn round and round

Round and round, round and round and round

One day my mother said you kids, Be home before dark

So we struck off like boy and goat to play our in the park

runnin’, jumpin’, kickin’ buttin’

Like only he could do, we ran till I turned blue

Then he ate my tennis shoes

Chasin’ Sanborn up the hills

Chasin’ Sanborn through the town

Sometime’s I swear he ate half the neighborhood down

Chasin’ Sanborn round and round

Round and round, round and round and round

One night when we were fast asleep camped way out on a hill

Sanborn rose to guard us all from sounds that broke the still

runnin’, jumpin’, kickin’ buttin’

Sanborn did his stuff, someone yelled – ‘Hey that’s enough,

I give, I ain’t that tough!’

Chasin’ Sanborn up the hills

Chasin’ Sanborn through the town

Sometime’s I swear he ate half the neighborhood down

Chasin’ Sanborn round and round

Round and round, round and round and round

Well the very next day we celebrated Sanborn’s heroic feat

‘Cuz caught the guy who had robbed, Mr’s Chase’s Coffee Plant on Market Street

runnin’, jumpin’, kickin’ buttin’

Happy as he could be

Sanborn’s name made history

Adorning Cans and Company!

Chasin’ Sanborn up the hills

Chasin’ Sanborn through the town

Sometime’s I swear he ate half the neighborhood down

Chasin’ Sanborn round and round

Round and round, round and round and round

Chasin’ Sanborn round and round

Round and round, round and round and round

“Sanborn come back here with the seat or my pants

I can’t go to school like this!”

I‘m Time

Words and Music by Dan McILhenny

Earth n Wood Music ~ High Sierra Collection

I am the cycle

That goes on forever

I’m time

I am the timepiece

To change each season

I’m time

You think you can see me

In the hands of a clock

Made by man sometime ago

But what do you know

I am the rhythm

That keeps on churning

I’m time

I am the instant

To be recorded

I’m time

You think that you know me

‘Cuz I’m always around

To ring your alarm each day

But is it that way

Oh, now here I am,

Without a friend

Running a track with no end

Oh, what a fix, moving these wheels,

Ticking and ticking and ticking and ticking away

I am the meter

That wakes the sunshine

I’m time

I am the answer

To questions unknown

I’m time

Oh Susannah

Lyrics and Music by Stephen Foster

Arrangement by Dan McIlhenny

Earth n Wood Music ~ High Sierra Collection

Well I come from Alabama
With a guitar on my knee
And I'm bound for Louisiana,
My Susannah for to see

It rained all night
The day I left
The weather it t’were dry
The sun so hot,
I froze myself to death
Susannah don't you cry

Oh, Susannah,
Now don't you cry for me
‘Cause I come from Alabama
With a guitar on my knee

I had a dream the other night
When everything was kinda still
I dreamt I saw my Susannah
She was runnin’ down the hill

A buckwheat cake was in her mouth
And a tear was in her eye
But you know that I’m bound for Dixieland
Susannah, don't you cry

Oh, Susannah,
Now don't you cry for me
‘Cause I come from Alabama
With a guitar on my knee

Oh, Susannah,
Now don't you cry for me
‘Cause I come from Alabama
With a guitar on my knee

Off to Sea

Words and Music by Dan McIlhenny and Bill Sieckert

Earth n Wood Music ~ High Sierra Collection

When I was old enough to understand

My mother said, “My son,

Your father, he’s a sailin’ man,

He left when you were one

And he’s gone, gone, gone…off to sea

Whoa, the days I stood above

The White Cliffs of Dover

Tryin’ to catch a glimpse of sail

Never did I see the ship

My father sailed upon

‘Cuz he was gone, gone, gone…off to sea

Well I listened to the merchant men

Who lived and died in stories

The lust, the hate, the memories

Of any sailor’s glories

Now they’re gone, gone, gone…off to Sea

Whoa the yarns they spun about

My father in New Romney

Made him out to be a gentle man

Never on this subject did my mother dwell upon

‘Cuz he was gone, gone, gone…off to sea

Ay away, away to find my father and the sea

I joined a crew of seasoned swabs

A greenhorn at the gills

The salty smell, the rolling swell

The sail a sea breeze fills

And I’m gone, gone, gone…off to sea

Sailing to Singapore, to every port like Lisbon

Sailing I grew my water wings

Navigating by the stars

Until the light of dawn

We were gone, gone, gone…off to Sea

Ay away, away to find my father and the sea

Can you tell me what kind of man is he

And life as his eyes see it

Do you know if he sails from fear of land

Or love of the sea?

Ay away, away to find my father and the sea

Ay away, away to find my father, way to find my father, way to find my father and the sea

Mountain Train

Words and Music by Dan McIlhenny

Earth n Wood Music – High Sierra Collection

I keep having this dream the trains still rollin’

Rollin’ right through the Mother Lode

The engineer’s face it seems so familiar

Familiar enough to be my own

Women weren’t engineers

When the Narrow Gauge got its name

But I’m as good as any man

Who ever ran a mountain train

Four three six five’s alive in the shadows

Shadows so sharp they dance to life

Loaded with coal it’s time for the journey

Journey to Colfax through the winter snow

Women weren’t engineers

When the Narrow Gauge got its name

But I’m as good as any man

Who ever ran a mountain train

Women weren’t engineers

When the Narrow Gauge got its name

But I’m as good as any man

Who ever ran a mountain train

Turncoat

Words and Music by Dan McIlhenny

Earth n Wood Music ~ High Sierra Collection

Held by the Rebs in Lynchburg

Nearly dead from bread and water

I’ve seen three blues turn to gray

Each day’s a little bit longer

Their will is getting’ much stronger

I heard my Yankee boys were captured today

Turncoat that’s what they expect me

Turncoat that’s what they expect me to be

But I’ll never give up the Union

For the Confederacy

My farms a burning nightmare

I signed to wage my vengeance

Caught sleepin’ on night watch near Meadows of Dan

Fall turns Virginny colder

The dream of peace grows older

This Northern suit I wear just fades like a man

Turncoat that’s what they expect me

Turncoat that’s what they expect me to be

But I’ll never give up the Union

For the Confederacy

No, no, no

Turncoat that’s what they expect me

Turncoat that’s what they expect me to be

But I’ll never give up the Union

For the Confederacy

Abe said all men are equal

I know that war can be cruel

The rewards of madness we reap

In the end

All The Countryside

Words and Music by Dan McILhenny

Earth and Wood Music – High Sierra Collection

A gentle rain kissed a meadow once in May

Bringing moisture to the new grass and flowers of the day

Down, down it came, that gentle clean spring rain

And it greened up far and wide

All the countryside

When the rain stopped a fragrance filled the air

A sweet smell came from the greenery everywhere

And then the sun broke through, to dry the rainy dew

And it greened up far and wide

All the countryside

Up above the ground was a rainbow arching across the sky

Like a radiantly stained beautiful glass window reflecting in our eyes

Then a gust of wind caught the trees and swirled their leaves around

It died quickly, for a moment, there was not a sound

Then meadowlarks began to sing to tell of all the good rain brings

And how it greened up far and wide

All the countryside

On the Road to Canada

Words and Music by Dan McIlhenny

Earth n Wood Music ~ High Sierra Collection

On the road to Canada

He grew a smile when he closed the door

On a stagnant past

He’s free at last

On the road to Canada

He ran into the goddess of the rain

And she washed him clean

In a field of green

On the road to Canada

He taught himself how to strum his grandpa’s guitar

‘Neath the golden sun

Where blue rivers run

Oh, On the road to Canada

With a rainbow wrapped around his heart

The wings to start — going north

On the road to Canada

He built a cabin deep within the pines

And he took a bride

They love the countryside

On the road to Canada

Beginnings

Words and Music by Dan McIlhenny

Earth n Wood Music ~ High Sierra Collection

If I had the time to spend with you

You know that I would so please don’t be blue

Just make the most of everyday

They go so fast just when you hope they’ll stay

And life it seems keeps spinnin’ round

Most folks never touch the ground

They keep on flyin’ sailin’ through the sky

And as for me I’ve realized

Spinnin’ round can hypnotize

Enough to hold your gaze until you die

Until you die

So on this day I shall begin

To live my life again

Feeling the warmth and closeness of my friends

And drawing strength from deep inside

I’ll never know the need to hide

From my life, from my love, from my friends

Oh, I’ll find the time to spend with you

We’ll climb a mountain just to see the view

We’ll make the most of everyday

And savor the moments as they pass away

‘Cause our lives won’t be spinnin’ round

Our feet will be touchin’ ground

We’ll see the sunset dancing through the sky

To know that we have realized

Spinnin’ round can hypnotize

Enough to hold our gaze until they die

Until they die

Do What Motleys Do

Words and Music by Dan McIlhenny

Earth n Wood Music ~ High Sierra Collection

Fourteen kids and a tug-a-war line, seven lined up on either side

Of a swollen creek running through the center of town

Eight are skinny and the rest are fat, five are twelve and the rest aren’t that

At the swollen creek running through the center of town

What a way to spend a Saturday, when you ain’t gotta’ nickel

And you’re feeling bored blue; just recruit yourself a motley crew

And do what motleys do

Fourteen kids in a tomato patch, all sorta’ busy playing catch

By a hickory grove that lies near the outskirts of town

Six are shorter and the rest are tall, fourteen run when the farmer calls

From the hickory grove that lies near the outskirts of town

What a way to spend a Saturday, when you ain’t gotta’ nickel

And you’re feeling bored blue; just recruit yourself a motley crew

And do what motleys do

Fourteen kids, not a one sits down, they all chose a hickory stick at Farmer Brown’s

The sun still rises and the sky’s still blue and motleys do what motleys do

What a way to spend a Saturday, when you ain’t gotta’ nickel

And you’re feeling bored blue; just recruit yourself a motley crew

And do what motleys do

Dreams

Words and Music by Dan McIlhenny

Earth n Wood Music ~ High Sierra Collection

When I was a young boy

I used to dream about the hills

Way up North in the timberland

Where the winter air a chills

I’d build myself a cabin

From some sturdy pine

And then I’d furnish it

With handmade crafts

And life would be so fine

Life would be so fine

You know that life would be so very fine

But as I grew older

My thoughts they did change some

The dreams came more frequently

Of the hills and summer sun

And not far from my cabin

Was this babblin’ creek

You know that I’d go there

To rest quietly

Just to hear Mother Nature speak

To hear Mother Nature speak

Oh just to hear Mother Nature speak

Still my life keeps on changin’

With each moment of every passin’ day

But most of all I have to say that I’m happy

For the changes comin’ my way

The changes comin’ my way

Oh for the changes takin’ place in my life every day

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