EVERGREEN (Robert J. Purvis)

When I was still a young man

My old father said to me

Don't turn into a lumberjack

Don't waste your life like me

Sail the ocean, write a book, or learn to fly

Make your mark in life

The time is right, before you're old and die


Well, I wanted so to please him

But I couldn't make him see

That I loved the life I'm living

Yes, I have to fell that tree

It's born in me and I never wanna go

Leave my forest home, my old wood shack

The river banks I know


Evergreen is the valley, ever golden is the sun

And it wakes me in the morning when a new day has begun

So I swear I'll never wander and I swear I'll never go

I'll stay here, where the air is fresh, the grass is green,

The trees are tall, and the river runs all day


Well, now, some folks say I'm crazy

But I tell them I don't care

There'll never be a better sight in this world anywhere

Than to stand up on a mountain really high

Take a look around, and fill your lungs

And shout up to the sky


Evergreen is the valley, ever golden is the sun

And it wakes me in the morning when a new day has begun

So I swear I'll never wander and I swear I'll never go

I'll stay here, where the air is fresh, the grass is green,

The trees are tall, and the river runs all day


[banjo solo]


Well, the years are catching up on me

And pretty soon I'll die

But if heaven's half as nice as this

I'll sure give it a try

But 'til then I'll sit here rocking my old chair

Looking out across the evergreens, the mountain tops,

The big white clouds that last forever there


Evergreen is the valley, ever golden is the sun

And it wakes me in the morning when a new day has begun

So I swear I'll never wander and I swear I'll never go

I'll stay here, where the air is fresh, the grass is green,

The trees are tall, and the river runs all day


Evergreen is the valley, ever golden is the sun

And it wakes me in the morning when a new day has begun

So I swear I'll never wander and I swear I'll never go

I'll stay here, looking out across the evergreens,

The old homestead, the mountain tops, the winding trail,

The bright blue sky, the place I love,

I'll drink to that, and the clouds just roll away


©1979

lyrics transcribed by Tom Brennan, corrections thanks to Bob Purvis