Tom Paxton
There Goes the Mountain
There goes the mountain, father of fir trees
Home for the grizzlies, under its snow
Shorn of its timber, torn by the monsters
Taken by truckloads to the great plains below
There goes the mountain, the avalanche maker
Heaven's caretaker, breeder of streams
There goes the mountain, maker of thunder
Torn down for the plunder, remembered in dreams
There goes the mountain, greeter of sunrise
Giant by starlight, the highest and best
The roar of the engines, the first in its lifetime
Will take what men value and spit out the rest
And there goes the mountain, the avalanche maker
Heaven's caretaker, breeder of streams
There goes the mountain, maker of thunder
Torn down for the plunder, remembered in dreams
Lord of the highlands, home for the eagles
Catcher of snowfalls for millions of years
Bleeding in mudslides, robbed of its insides
Prey to the skills of the bold engineer
And there goes the mountain, the avalanche maker
Heaven's caretaker, breeder of streams
There goes the mountain, maker of thunder
Torn down for the plunder, remembered in dreams