Best Of John Denver

had an uncle named matthew
Was his father's only boy
Born just south of colby, kansas
Was his mother's pride and joy

Yes, and joy was just the thing that he was raised on
Love was just the way to live and die
Gold was just a windy kansas wheatfield
Blue, just a kansas summer sky

All the stories that he told me
Back when i was just a lad
All the memories that he gave me
All the good times that he had

Growin' up a kansas farmboy
Life was mostly havin' fun
Ridin' on his daddy's shoulders
Behind a view beneath the sun

Yes, and joy was just the thing that he was raised on
Love was just the way to live and die
Gold was just a windy kansas wheatfield
Blue is just a kansas summer sky

Well, i guess there were some hard times
And i'm told some years were lean
They had a storm in forty-seven
A twister came and stripped them clean

He lost the farm and lost his family
He lost the wheat and lost his home
But he found a family bible
Faith as solid as a stone

Yes, and joy was just the thing that he was raised on
Love was just the way to live and die
Gold was just a windy kansas wheatfield
Blue, just a kansas summer sky

So he came to live at our house
And he came to work the land
He came to ease my daddy's burden
And he came to be my friend

So, i wrote this down for matthew
And it's for him the song is sung
Ridin' on his daddy's shoulders
Behind a mule beneath the sun

Yes, and joy was just the thing that he was raised on
Love was just the way to live and die
Gold was just a windy kansas wheatfield
Blue, just a kansas summer sky

Yes, and joy was just the thing that he was raised on
Love was just the way to live and die
Gold was just a windy kansas wheatfield
Blue, just a kansas summer sky

Words and music by john denver

This song appears on seventeen albums, and was first released on the windsong album, and has also been released on favourites, greatest hits vol 2, voice of america, john denver (italian), the v
Est of john denver (double cd), the rocky mountain collection, the country roads collection, reflections and country classics albums. live versions appears on the live in london, the wildlife co
And the best of john denver live albums. an updated studio version has been released on the earth songs, the very best of john denver (single cd), the john denver collection - calypso and a por
Albums.


To sail on a dream on a crystal clear ocean
To ride on the crest of a wild raging storm
To work in the service of life and the living
In search of the answers to questions unknown
To be part of the movement and part of the growing
Part of beginning to understand

Aye, calypso, the places you've been to
The things that you've shown us
The stories you tell
Aye, calypso, i sing to your spirit
The men who have served you
So long and so well

Like the dolphin who guides you
You bring us beside you
To light up the darkness and show us the way
For though we are strangers in your silent world
To live on the land we must learn from the sea
To be true as the tide
And free as the wind-swell
Joyful and loving in letting it be

Aye, calypso, the places you've been to
The things that you've shown us
The stories you tell
Aye, calypso, i sing to your spirit
The men who have served you
So long and so well

Aye, calypso, the places you've been to
The things that you've shown us
The stories you tell
Aye, calypso, i sing to your spirit
The men who have served you
So long and so well

Words and music by john denver

This song appears on six albums, and was first released on the farewell andromeda album, and has also been released on the changes, country classics, the country roads collection and the rocky m
In collection albums. a live version also appears on the best of john denver live album.

Jesse went away last summer, a couple of months ago
After all our time together, it was hard to see her go
She called me right up when she arrived, asked me one more time to come
Or livin' on an la freeway, ain't my kinda havin' fun

I think i'd rather be a cowboy
I think i'd rather ride the reigns
I think i'd rather be a cowboy
Then to lay me down and love the lady's chains

We were just beginnin', it was such an easy way
Layin' back up in the mountains, makin' songs for summer days
She got tired of pickin' daisies, cookin' my meals for me
She can live the life she wants to, yes, it's alright with me

I think i'd rather be a cowboy
I think i'd rather ride the reigns
I think i'd rather be a cowboy
Then to lay me down and love the lady's chains

I'd rather live on the side of a mountain
Than wander through canyons of concrete and steel
I'd rather laugh with the rain and the sunshine
Then lay down my sun down in some starry field

Oh, but i miss her in the morning, when i awake alone
The absence of her laughter, is a cold and empty sound
But her memory always makes me smile, and i want you to know
I love her yes i love her, just enough to let her go

I think i'd rather be a cowboy
I think i'd rather ride the reigns
I think i'd rather be a cowboy
Then to lay me down and love the lady's chains

I think i'd rather be a cowboy
I think i'd rather ride the reigns
I think i'd rather be a cowboy
Then to lay me down and love lady's chains

Words and music by john denver

This song appears on seventeen albums, and was first released on the rhymes & reasons album, this is john denver, the country roads collection) and the rocky mountain collection, and has als
N rerecorded on the greatest hits vol 1, changes, voice of america, john denver (italian) country classics, take me home, country roads - and other hits, the very best of john denver (double cd)
Favourites albums. a brand new studio recording also appears on the love again and a celebration of life albums. live versions also appears on the live in london album and the wildlife concert a
E best of john denver live albums as a medley.

All my bags are packed
I'm ready to go
I'm standin' here outside your door
I hate to wake you up to say goodbye
But the dawn is breakin'
It's early morn
The taxi's waitin'
He's blowin' his horn
Already i'm so lonesome
I could die

So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you'll wait for me
Hold me like you'll never let me go

it's five o'clock this morning, and the sun is on the rise
There's frosting on the window pane, and sorrow in your eyes
The stars are fading quietly, the night is nearly gone
And so you turn away from me, and tears begin to come

And it's goodbye again, i'm sorry to be leavin' you
Goodbye again, as if you didn't know
It's goodbye again, and i wish you could tell me
Why do we always fight when i have to go

It seems a shame to leave you now, the days are soft and warm
I long to lay me down again, to hold you in my arms
I long to kiss the tears away, give you back the smile
Other voices beckon me, to go a little while

And it's goodbye again, i'm sorry to be leavin' you
Goodbye again, as if you didn't know
It's goodbye again, and i wish you could tell me
Why do we always fight when i have to go

Have to go and see some friends of mine, some that i don't know
Some who aren't familiar with my name,
It's something that's inside of me not hard to understand
It's anyone who listens to me sing

And if your hours are empty now, who am i to blame
You think if i were always here, our love would be the same
As it is the time we have, is worth the time alone
And lying by your side, the greatest peace i've ever known

But it's goodbye again, i'm sorry to be leavin' you
Goodbye again, as if you didn't know
It's goodbye again, and i wish you could tell me
Why do we always fight when i have to go

This song appears on twenty albums, and was first released on the back home again album, and has also been released on the changes, john denver (italian), favourites, greatest hits vol 2, voice
Erica, the very best of john denver (double cd), the rocky mountain collection, the country roads collection, reflections and country classics albums. live versions appear on an evening with joh
Ver, live in london,, live at the sydney opera house, the wildlife concert and the best of john denver live albums. an updated studio version has been released on the gift you are, a portrait an
John denver collection - annie's song albums. a further new version also appears on the love again album.

You fill up my senses
Like a night in the forest
Like the mountains in springtime
Like a walk in the rain
Like a storm in the desert
Like a sleepy blue ocean
You fill up my senses
Come fill me again

Come let me love you
Let me give my life to you
Let me drown in your laughter
Let me die in your arms
Let me lay down beside you
Let me always be with you
Come let me love you
Come love me again

Let me give my life to you
Come let me love you
Come love me again

You fill up my senses
Like a night in the forest
Like the mountains in springtime
Like a walk in the rain
Like a storm in the desert
Like a sleepy blue ocean
You fill up my senses
Come fill me again

Words and music by john denver

This song appears on nine albums, and was first released on the it's about time album, and has also been released on the greatest hits vol 3, changes, the very best of john denver (double cd),
Ry classics, the country roads collection and the rocky mountain collection albums. a live version also appears on the wildlife concert and the best of john denver live albums.

He was born in the bitterroot valley in the early morning rain
Wild geese over the water headin' north and home again
Bringin' a warm wind from the south
Bringin' the first taste of the spring
His mother took him to her breast and softly she did sing

Oh montana, give this child a home
Give him the love of a good family and a woman of his own
Give him a fire in his heart, give him a light in his eyes
Give him the wild wind for a brother and the wild montana skies

His mother died that summer and he never learned to cry
He never knew his father and he never did ask why
He never knew the answers that would make an easy way
But he learned to know the wilderness and to be a man that way

His mother's brother took him in to family and his home
Gave him a hand that he could lean on and a strength to call his own
And he learned to be a farmer and he learned to love the land
And he learned to read the seasons and he learned to make a stand

Oh montana, give this child a home
Give him the love of a good family and a woman of his own
Give him a fire in his heart, give him a light in his eyes
Give him the wild wind for a brother and the wild montana skies

On the eve of his 21st birthday he set out on his own
He was 30 years and runnin' when he found his way back home
Ridin' a storm across the mountains and an aching in his heart
Said he came to turn the pages and to make a brand new start

Now he never told a story of the time that he was gone
Some say he was a lawyer, some say he was a john
There was somethin' in the city that he said he couldn't breathe
And there was somethin' in the country that he said he couldn't leave

Oh montana, give this child a home
Give him the love of a good family and a woman of his own
Give him a fire in his heart, give him a light in his eyes
Give him the wild wind for a brother and the wild montana skies

Now some say he was crazy and they're glad that he is gone
But some of us miss him and we'll try to carry on
Giving a voice to the forest, giving a voice to the dawn
Giving a voice to the wilderness and the land that he lived on

Oh montana, give this child a home
Give him the love of a good family and a woman of his own
Give him a fire in his heart, give him a light in his eyes
Give him the wild wind for a brother and the wild montana skies

Oh montana, give this child a home
Give him the love of a good family and a woman of his own
Give him a fire in his heart, give him a light in his eyes
Give him the wild wind for a brother and the wild montana skies

Words and music by john denver

this song appears on twelve albums, and was first released on the poems,
Prayers & promises album, then the very best of john denver (double cd), this
Is john denver, the country roads collection and the rocky mountain collection
Albums, and has also been recorded on the greatest hits vol 1, john denver
(italian) and rocky mountain holiday albums. live versions also appear on the
An evening with john denver, country classics, the wildlife concert and the
Very best of john denver live albums.

I've been lately thinking
About my life's time
All the things i've done
And how it's been
And i can't help believing
In my own mind
I know i'm gonna hate to see it end

I've seen a lot of sunshine
Slept out in the rain
Spent a night or two all on my own
I've known my lady's pleasures
Had myself some friends
And spent a time or two in my own home

And i have to say it now
It's been a good life all in all
It's really fine
To have a chance to hang around
And lie there by the fire
And watch the evening tire
While all my friends and my old lady
Sit and pass the pipe around

And talk of poems and prayers and promises
And things that we believe in
How sweet it is to love someone
How right it is to care
How long it's been since yesterday
And what about tomorrow
And what about our dreams
And all the memories we share

The days they pass so quickly now
Nights are seldom long
And time around me whispers when it's cold
The changes somehow frighten me
Still i have to smile
It turns me on to think of growing old
For though my life's been good to me
There's still so much to do
So many things my mind has never known
I'd like to raise a family
I'd like to sail away
And dance across the mountains on the moon

I have to say it now
It's been a good life all in all
It's really fine
To have the chance to hang around
And lie there by the fire
And watch the evening tire
While all my friends and my old lady
Sit and pass the pipe around

And talk of poems and prayers and promises
And things that we believe in
How sweet it is to love someone
How right it is to care
How long it's been since yesterday
What about tomorrow
What about our dreams
And all the memories we share

Words and music by john denver