Rocky Mountain High

Words & Music:

John Denver

 

The alternate chords version repeats the same set of chords for each verse line.  I find it works well for the first & third lines, but not as well for the second & fourth ones.  For the alternate version, the D comes quickly on the 4th beat of the measure as a pick-up to the G.

 

       G                         Am7(or C)      D

[alt:  G                         Am7            F     D] [etc.]

He was born in the summer of his twenty-seventh year.

       G                          C

Comin' home to a place he'd never been before.

        G           Em                  Am7(or C)        D

He left yesterday behind him, you might say he was born again,

          G                            C

You might say he found a key for every door.

 

When he first came to the mountain his life was far away,

On the road and hangin' by a song,

But the string's already broken and he doesn't really care,

It keeps changin' fast and it don't last for long.

 

CHORUS:

        C        D              G

But the Colorado Rocky Mountain high,

     C               D           G

I've seen it rainin' fire in the sky.

    C               D            G                  C

The shadow from the starlight is softer than a lullaby.

               G          C                   G          C

[alt:          Am7  C     D                 Am7  C       D]

Rocky Mountain high, Colorado, Rocky Mountain high, Colorado.

 

He climbed cathedral mountains, he saw silver clouds below,

He saw everything as far as you can see.

And they say that he got crazy once and he tried to touch the sun,

And he lost a friend, but kept his memory.

 


Now, he walks in quiet solitude the forests and the streams,

Seeking grace in every step he takes.

His sight has turned inside himself to try and understand

The serenity of a clear blue mountain lake.

 

CHORUS:

[3rd line is:  You can talk to God and listen to the casual reply.]

 

Now his life is full of wonder, but his heart still know some fear

Of a simple thing he cannot comprehend.

Why they try to tear the mountain down to bring in a couple more,

More people, more scars upon the land.

 

CHORUS:

[3rd line is: I know he'd be a poorer man if he never saw an eagle fly.]

 

CHORUS:

[3rd line is: Friends around the campfire and everybody's high.]

 

[repeat last line ("Rocky Mountain high Colorado") ad infinitum and out]

 





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