John Denver - John Denver
Menu

Music


John Denver

January 1979
Buy album from:
iTunes | Amazon
Stream album:
Spotify
Side One
  1. Downhill Stuff

    Downhill Stuff

    Blue river, blue, I’d rather be outside. Here I am inside watching it rain.
    Blue river, blue, I’d rather be somewhere. Here I am nowhere watching it rain.

    (1,2,3,4!) Some people like that downhill stuff, they like it fast and breezy.
    Some people walk on the other side, they like it slow and easy.
    Some people run on a mountain trail, some like it wild and rough.
    Some like to fly, some like to sail, some like the downhill stuff.

    There’s work in what we practice, work in the things we save.
    Sometimes we work just to try to make a living or we’re working just to make it pay.
    Sometimes we’re trying to work our will, that won’t work anyway.
    I only know that I’m working still just to get another chance to play.
    Some people like that downhill stuff, they like it fast and breezy.
    Some people walk on the other side, they like it slow and easy.
    Some people run on a mountain trail, some like it wild and rough.
    Some like to fly, some like to sail, some like the downhill stuff.

    Keep moving in a forward direction like a river rolling down to the sea.
    If you wanna make a different selection, honey, let yourself go with gravity.

    Everybody’s looking for heaven, everybody’s looking for home.
    Everybody’s looking for higher and higher but nobody wants to be looking alone.
    Everybody’s trying to get down to it, everybody’s trying to sing.
    Whatever it is, we’re all gonna do it but whatever we do, we gotta do our own thing.

    Some people like that downhill stuff, they like it fast and breezy.
    Some people walk on the other side, they like it slow and easy.
    Some people run on a mountain trail, some like it wild and rough.
    Some like to fly, some like to sail, some like the downhill stuff.

    I like the downhill stuff. Let me slide down that downhill stuff.
    Oh, honey give me some downhill stuff.

    (written by John Denver)

  2. Sweet Melinda

    Sweet Melinda

    Pulled out of Denton, Texas two days and nights ago,
    I been living on pills and burgies, the whites of my eyes don’t show.
    The south bound headlights are making me blind, I’m too damn tired to blink.
    My toes are numb and my brain’s gone dumb, I can just barely think.
    Lo de looou, sweet Melinda, my wife.
    The lonesome moan of this eighteen-wheeler cuts through me like a knife.
    Except for you, sweet Melinda, my wife, I been riding on empty most all of my life.

    Two more hours till daylight, starting to rain again.
    A sign up ahead says welcome to Paradise, Population Ten.
    Me and this truck and that old white line stumbling on and on,
    Like three old drinking buddies coming home at dawn.
    Singing ooooo, sweet Melinda, my wife.
    The lonesome moan of this eighteen-wheeler cuts through me like a knife.
    Except for you, sweet Melinda, my wife, I been riding on empty most all of my life.

    Except for you, sweet Melinda, my wife.
    The lonesome moan of this eighteen-wheeler cuts through me like a knife.
    Except for you, sweet Melinda, my wife, I been riding on empty most all of my life.
    I been riding on empty most all of my life

  3. What’s On Your Mind

    What’s On Your Mind

    You know sometimes I can’t sleep at night. I can’t quiet my heart or my mind.
    I toss and I turn, I ache and I burn, I get caught in the passing of time.
    It’s like too many miles, too many heartaches, too much that needs to be done.
    Yes, and too many sidewalks, too many people, too many hours alone.
    What’s on your mind and what’s on my mind is really quite the same.
    I’ve been working so hard and I’m ready to play, I know just the right game.
    What’s on your mind is what’s on my mind. That’s the way it’s gonna be.
    I’m gonna find me a place I can hide, I want you right next to me.

    Oh, I’ve never seen a more beautiful day, it’s my favorite time of the year.
    The colors are changing, she’s rearranging and I’m so glad to be here.
    I’ve been up and around, I’ve been lost, I’ve been found, I’ve seen love face to face in my dreams.
    And the things that I know and the things that I show are not always just what they seem.
    What’s on your mind is what’s on my mind, it’s just that way.
    It’s like catching a ride on a beautiful river, let it carry us all away.
    What’s on your mind is what’s on my mind is really nothing new.
    I want to get you alone, I want to make you my own, baby, I want to make love with you.
    What’s on your mind is what’s on my mind, is really quite the same.
    I’ve been working so hard and I’m ready to play baby, I know just the right game.
    What’s on your mind is what’s on my mind is really nothing new.
    I want to get you alone, I want to make you my own, baby, I want to make love with you.

    (written by John Denver)

  4. Joseph & Joe

    Joseph & Joe

    Joseph and Joe, the priest and the cowboy, the places they’ve been to, the spaces they’re in.
    For a time between storms at the side of a mountain,
    with another man’s family, family and friends.
    Joseph can give you the keys to the kingdom, he’ll put you in touch with the spirit of man.
    Joe loves the desert but lives in the mountains, his closest companion, a left-handed man.
    Where do you go if you’ve got no way to get there? Where do you go?
    How do you know if you’ve never ever been there? How do you know?
    Tell me how do you know?

    Joseph, I lost you in some other city, our paths are not crossing, were way out of time.
    Joe how the seasons have drifted between us, or is it your vision much greater than mine?
    Take heed of the darkness which gathers around us, a fire that consumes us, forever to burn.
    Then look to the sun for our father is with us, our mother will teach us what we need to learn.
    Where do you go if you’ve got no way to get there? Where do you go?
    How do you know if you’ve never ever been there? How do you know?
    Tell me how do you know?
    Tell me where do you go if you’ve got no way to get there? Where do you go?
    How do you know if you’ve never ever been there? How do you know?
    Tell me how do you know?

    (written by John Denver)

  5. Life Is So Good

    Life Is So Good

    Life is so good, life is so good these days life is so good these days, life is so good.
    Life is so good, life is so good these days life is so good these days, life is so good.

    Life is so good, life is so good these days life is so good these days, life is so good.
    My life is so good, my life is so good these days, life is so good these days, life is so good.

    (written by John Denver)

  6. Berkeley Woman

    Berkeley Woman

    I saw a Berkeley woman sitting in a rocking chair. A dulcimer in her lap, feather in her hair.
    Her breasts swayed freely with the rhythm of the rocking chair,
    she was a sitting and a singing and a swaying, Her cheeks were red I declare.

    ‘Twas hard to believe what my eyes showed me then,
    the color in her cheeks was just her natural skin.
    She wore no makeup to make her look that way.
    She was a natural mama with the red cheeks, what more can I say?

    Well, I finally realized there was hunger in my stare.
    In my mind I was swaying with the woman in the rocking chair.
    But the lady I was living with was standing right by my side,
    she saw my stare and she saw the hunger and Lord, it made her cry.

    So with anger on her face, yes and hurt in her eyes,
    she scratched me and she clawed me, she screamed and she cried,
    “oh, you don’t give me near all the loving that you should,
    yet you’re ready to go and lay with her, well you’re just no damn good.”

    Well, I guess she’s probably right, oh, I guess I’m probably wrong.
    I guess she’s not too far away, she hasn’t been gone very long.
    And I guess we could get together and try it one more time,
    but I know that wanderlust would come again, she’d only wind up a-crying.

    Well, now you’ve heard my story as plain as the light of day.
    It’s hard to feel guilty for loving the ladies, that’s all I gotta say.
    Except a woman is the sweetest fruit that God ever put on the vine,
    I’d no more love just one kind of woman than drink only one kind of wine.

    Well, a woman is the sweetest fruit that God ever put on the vine,
    I’d no more love just one kind of woman than drink only one kind of wine.
    I’d no more love just one kind of woman than drink only one kind of wine.

    (written by Bowers)

Side Two
  1. Johnny B. Goode

    Johnny B. Goode

    Way down in Louisiana close to New Orleans, way back in the woods among the evergreens,
    there stood a log cabin made or earth and wood,
    where lived a country boy name of Johnny B. Goode.
    He never ever learned to read or write so well, but he could play a guitar just like a ringing bell.
    Go go go Johnny go go, go Johnny go go, go Johnny go go, go Johnny go go, Johnny B. Goode.

    He used to carry his guitar in a gunny sack, go sit beneath a tree by the railroad track.
    The engineers would see him sitting in the shade strumming to the rhythm that the drivers made.
    The people passing by they would stop and say, oh my, but that little country boy can play.
    Go go go Johnny go go, go Johnny go go, go Johnny go go, go Johnny go go, Johnny B. Goode.

    Well, his momma told him, “Some day you will be a man.
    You will be the leader of a big old band.
    Many people coming from miles around just to hear you play your music till the sun goes down.
    Maybe someday your name’ll be in lights, saying, ‘Johnny B. Goode tonight.”
    Go go go Johnny go go, go Johnny go go, go Johnny go go, go Johnny go go, Johnny B. Goode.
    Go go go Johnny go go, go Johnny go go, go Johnny go go, go Johnny go go, Johnny B. Goode.

    (written by Berry)

  2. You’re So Beautiful

    You’re So Beautiful

    Born on a quiet morning, just a dream in someone’s eye.
    A dream that’s like a promise meant to be.
    Giving rise to speculation on a place called paradise.
    If I’ve ever been there it’s when you were with me.
    You’re so beautiful, I can’t believe my eyes each time I see you again.
    You’re so beautiful that I’m in paradise each time I see you again.

    I remember some hidden valley where the skies are never still
    and alpine meadows burn in the evening light.
    I remember the path to glory and the way around the hill
    and I remember true love’s eyes shining in the night.
    You’re so beautiful, I can’t believe my eyes each time I see you again.
    You’re so beautiful that I’m in paradise each time I see you again.

    And if paradise is everything you see, then the place you must be coming from is ecstasy.
    You’re so beautiful, I can’t believe my eyes each time I see you again.
    You’re so beautiful that I’m in paradise each time I see you again.
    I just want to see you again, I want to be with you again,
    I just need to love you again, I just want to touch you again, I just need to love you again.

    (written by John Denver)

  3. Southwind

    Southwind

    The wheels go down, I’m back in town, three months full of summer and nothing to do.
    It’s been a strain at the reins but the picture remains,
    southwind’s blowing my love to you, southwind’s blowing my love.

    For sixty-one days I got caught in the maze, twenty thousand watching the songs go by.
    The lights come down in an East Texas town,
    southwind’s blowing my love to you, southwind’s blowing my love.

    I couldn’t wait until, till I got back home to you.
    Or to get my fill of these California summer nights.

    It’s good to be home, my, how the children have grown.
    Screen door’s barking out that old familiar tune.
    Games at the park, but honey, wait until dark,
    southwind’s blowing my love to you, southwind’s blowing my love.

    I couldn’t wait until, till I got back home to you.
    Or to get my fill of these California summer nights.

    The wheels go down, I’m back in town, three months full of summer and nothing to do.
    It’s been a strain at the reins but the picture remains,
    southwind’s blowing my love to you, southwind’s blowing my love.
    southwind’s blowing my love to you, southwind’s blowing my love.
    All my love, yeah, all of my love to you. All my love to you, yeah.

    (written by Pedersen)

  4. Garden Song

    Garden Song

    Inch by inch, row by row, gonna make this garden grow.
    All it takes is a rake and a hoe and a piece of fertile ground.
    Inch by inch, row by row, Someone bless the seeds I sow.
    Someone warm them from below, ’til the rain comes tumbling down.

    Pulling weeds and picking stones, man is made of dreams and bones.
    Feel the need to grow my own ’cause the time is close at hand.
    Grain for grain, sun and rain, find my way in nature’s chain,
    to my body and my brain to the music from the land.

    Plant your rows straight and long, thicker than with prayer and song.
    Mother Earth will make you strong if you give her love and care.
    Old crow watching hungrily, from his perch in yonder tree.
    In my garden I’m as free as that feathered thief up there.

    Inch by inch, row by row, gonna make this garden grow.
    All it takes is a rake and a hoe and a piece of fertile ground.
    Inch by inch, row by row, Someone bless the seeds I sow.
    Someone warm them from below, ’til the rain comes tumbling down.

    (written by Mallett)

  5. Songs of…

    Songs of…

    Songs of the future, songs of the past, songs of the first day, songs of the last,
    songs of tomorrow, songs of the play, songs of the struggle, songs of the way.

    Songs of the future, songs of the past, songs of the first day, songs of the last,
    songs of tomorrow, songs of the play, songs of the struggle, songs of the way.

    (written by John Denver)

Side One
  1. Downhill Stuff

    Downhill Stuff

    Blue river, blue, I’d rather be outside. Here I am inside watching it rain.
    Blue river, blue, I’d rather be somewhere. Here I am nowhere watching it rain.

    (1,2,3,4!) Some people like that downhill stuff, they like it fast and breezy.
    Some people walk on the other side, they like it slow and easy.
    Some people run on a mountain trail, some like it wild and rough.
    Some like to fly, some like to sail, some like the downhill stuff.

    There’s work in what we practice, work in the things we save.
    Sometimes we work just to try to make a living or we’re working just to make it pay.
    Sometimes we’re trying to work our will, that won’t work anyway.
    I only know that I’m working still just to get another chance to play.
    Some people like that downhill stuff, they like it fast and breezy.
    Some people walk on the other side, they like it slow and easy.
    Some people run on a mountain trail, some like it wild and rough.
    Some like to fly, some like to sail, some like the downhill stuff.

    Keep moving in a forward direction like a river rolling down to the sea.
    If you wanna make a different selection, honey, let yourself go with gravity.

    Everybody’s looking for heaven, everybody’s looking for home.
    Everybody’s looking for higher and higher but nobody wants to be looking alone.
    Everybody’s trying to get down to it, everybody’s trying to sing.
    Whatever it is, we’re all gonna do it but whatever we do, we gotta do our own thing.

    Some people like that downhill stuff, they like it fast and breezy.
    Some people walk on the other side, they like it slow and easy.
    Some people run on a mountain trail, some like it wild and rough.
    Some like to fly, some like to sail, some like the downhill stuff.

    I like the downhill stuff. Let me slide down that downhill stuff.
    Oh, honey give me some downhill stuff.

    (written by John Denver)

  2. Sweet Melinda

    Sweet Melinda

    Pulled out of Denton, Texas two days and nights ago,
    I been living on pills and burgies, the whites of my eyes don’t show.
    The south bound headlights are making me blind, I’m too damn tired to blink.
    My toes are numb and my brain’s gone dumb, I can just barely think.
    Lo de looou, sweet Melinda, my wife.
    The lonesome moan of this eighteen-wheeler cuts through me like a knife.
    Except for you, sweet Melinda, my wife, I been riding on empty most all of my life.

    Two more hours till daylight, starting to rain again.
    A sign up ahead says welcome to Paradise, Population Ten.
    Me and this truck and that old white line stumbling on and on,
    Like three old drinking buddies coming home at dawn.
    Singing ooooo, sweet Melinda, my wife.
    The lonesome moan of this eighteen-wheeler cuts through me like a knife.
    Except for you, sweet Melinda, my wife, I been riding on empty most all of my life.

    Except for you, sweet Melinda, my wife.
    The lonesome moan of this eighteen-wheeler cuts through me like a knife.
    Except for you, sweet Melinda, my wife, I been riding on empty most all of my life.
    I been riding on empty most all of my life

  3. What’s On Your Mind

    What’s On Your Mind

    You know sometimes I can’t sleep at night. I can’t quiet my heart or my mind.
    I toss and I turn, I ache and I burn, I get caught in the passing of time.
    It’s like too many miles, too many heartaches, too much that needs to be done.
    Yes, and too many sidewalks, too many people, too many hours alone.
    What’s on your mind and what’s on my mind is really quite the same.
    I’ve been working so hard and I’m ready to play, I know just the right game.
    What’s on your mind is what’s on my mind. That’s the way it’s gonna be.
    I’m gonna find me a place I can hide, I want you right next to me.

    Oh, I’ve never seen a more beautiful day, it’s my favorite time of the year.
    The colors are changing, she’s rearranging and I’m so glad to be here.
    I’ve been up and around, I’ve been lost, I’ve been found, I’ve seen love face to face in my dreams.
    And the things that I know and the things that I show are not always just what they seem.
    What’s on your mind is what’s on my mind, it’s just that way.
    It’s like catching a ride on a beautiful river, let it carry us all away.
    What’s on your mind is what’s on my mind is really nothing new.
    I want to get you alone, I want to make you my own, baby, I want to make love with you.
    What’s on your mind is what’s on my mind, is really quite the same.
    I’ve been working so hard and I’m ready to play baby, I know just the right game.
    What’s on your mind is what’s on my mind is really nothing new.
    I want to get you alone, I want to make you my own, baby, I want to make love with you.

    (written by John Denver)

  4. Joseph & Joe

    Joseph & Joe

    Joseph and Joe, the priest and the cowboy, the places they’ve been to, the spaces they’re in.
    For a time between storms at the side of a mountain,
    with another man’s family, family and friends.
    Joseph can give you the keys to the kingdom, he’ll put you in touch with the spirit of man.
    Joe loves the desert but lives in the mountains, his closest companion, a left-handed man.
    Where do you go if you’ve got no way to get there? Where do you go?
    How do you know if you’ve never ever been there? How do you know?
    Tell me how do you know?

    Joseph, I lost you in some other city, our paths are not crossing, were way out of time.
    Joe how the seasons have drifted between us, or is it your vision much greater than mine?
    Take heed of the darkness which gathers around us, a fire that consumes us, forever to burn.
    Then look to the sun for our father is with us, our mother will teach us what we need to learn.
    Where do you go if you’ve got no way to get there? Where do you go?
    How do you know if you’ve never ever been there? How do you know?
    Tell me how do you know?
    Tell me where do you go if you’ve got no way to get there? Where do you go?
    How do you know if you’ve never ever been there? How do you know?
    Tell me how do you know?

    (written by John Denver)

  5. Life Is So Good

    Life Is So Good

    Life is so good, life is so good these days life is so good these days, life is so good.
    Life is so good, life is so good these days life is so good these days, life is so good.

    Life is so good, life is so good these days life is so good these days, life is so good.
    My life is so good, my life is so good these days, life is so good these days, life is so good.

    (written by John Denver)

  6. Berkeley Woman

    Berkeley Woman

    I saw a Berkeley woman sitting in a rocking chair. A dulcimer in her lap, feather in her hair.
    Her breasts swayed freely with the rhythm of the rocking chair,
    she was a sitting and a singing and a swaying, Her cheeks were red I declare.

    ‘Twas hard to believe what my eyes showed me then,
    the color in her cheeks was just her natural skin.
    She wore no makeup to make her look that way.
    She was a natural mama with the red cheeks, what more can I say?

    Well, I finally realized there was hunger in my stare.
    In my mind I was swaying with the woman in the rocking chair.
    But the lady I was living with was standing right by my side,
    she saw my stare and she saw the hunger and Lord, it made her cry.

    So with anger on her face, yes and hurt in her eyes,
    she scratched me and she clawed me, she screamed and she cried,
    “oh, you don’t give me near all the loving that you should,
    yet you’re ready to go and lay with her, well you’re just no damn good.”

    Well, I guess she’s probably right, oh, I guess I’m probably wrong.
    I guess she’s not too far away, she hasn’t been gone very long.
    And I guess we could get together and try it one more time,
    but I know that wanderlust would come again, she’d only wind up a-crying.

    Well, now you’ve heard my story as plain as the light of day.
    It’s hard to feel guilty for loving the ladies, that’s all I gotta say.
    Except a woman is the sweetest fruit that God ever put on the vine,
    I’d no more love just one kind of woman than drink only one kind of wine.

    Well, a woman is the sweetest fruit that God ever put on the vine,
    I’d no more love just one kind of woman than drink only one kind of wine.
    I’d no more love just one kind of woman than drink only one kind of wine.

    (written by Bowers)

Side Two
  1. Johnny B. Goode

    Johnny B. Goode

    Way down in Louisiana close to New Orleans, way back in the woods among the evergreens,
    there stood a log cabin made or earth and wood,
    where lived a country boy name of Johnny B. Goode.
    He never ever learned to read or write so well, but he could play a guitar just like a ringing bell.
    Go go go Johnny go go, go Johnny go go, go Johnny go go, go Johnny go go, Johnny B. Goode.

    He used to carry his guitar in a gunny sack, go sit beneath a tree by the railroad track.
    The engineers would see him sitting in the shade strumming to the rhythm that the drivers made.
    The people passing by they would stop and say, oh my, but that little country boy can play.
    Go go go Johnny go go, go Johnny go go, go Johnny go go, go Johnny go go, Johnny B. Goode.

    Well, his momma told him, “Some day you will be a man.
    You will be the leader of a big old band.
    Many people coming from miles around just to hear you play your music till the sun goes down.
    Maybe someday your name’ll be in lights, saying, ‘Johnny B. Goode tonight.”
    Go go go Johnny go go, go Johnny go go, go Johnny go go, go Johnny go go, Johnny B. Goode.
    Go go go Johnny go go, go Johnny go go, go Johnny go go, go Johnny go go, Johnny B. Goode.

    (written by Berry)

  2. You’re So Beautiful

    You’re So Beautiful

    Born on a quiet morning, just a dream in someone’s eye.
    A dream that’s like a promise meant to be.
    Giving rise to speculation on a place called paradise.
    If I’ve ever been there it’s when you were with me.
    You’re so beautiful, I can’t believe my eyes each time I see you again.
    You’re so beautiful that I’m in paradise each time I see you again.

    I remember some hidden valley where the skies are never still
    and alpine meadows burn in the evening light.
    I remember the path to glory and the way around the hill
    and I remember true love’s eyes shining in the night.
    You’re so beautiful, I can’t believe my eyes each time I see you again.
    You’re so beautiful that I’m in paradise each time I see you again.

    And if paradise is everything you see, then the place you must be coming from is ecstasy.
    You’re so beautiful, I can’t believe my eyes each time I see you again.
    You’re so beautiful that I’m in paradise each time I see you again.
    I just want to see you again, I want to be with you again,
    I just need to love you again, I just want to touch you again, I just need to love you again.

    (written by John Denver)

  3. Southwind

    Southwind

    The wheels go down, I’m back in town, three months full of summer and nothing to do.
    It’s been a strain at the reins but the picture remains,
    southwind’s blowing my love to you, southwind’s blowing my love.

    For sixty-one days I got caught in the maze, twenty thousand watching the songs go by.
    The lights come down in an East Texas town,
    southwind’s blowing my love to you, southwind’s blowing my love.

    I couldn’t wait until, till I got back home to you.
    Or to get my fill of these California summer nights.

    It’s good to be home, my, how the children have grown.
    Screen door’s barking out that old familiar tune.
    Games at the park, but honey, wait until dark,
    southwind’s blowing my love to you, southwind’s blowing my love.

    I couldn’t wait until, till I got back home to you.
    Or to get my fill of these California summer nights.

    The wheels go down, I’m back in town, three months full of summer and nothing to do.
    It’s been a strain at the reins but the picture remains,
    southwind’s blowing my love to you, southwind’s blowing my love.
    southwind’s blowing my love to you, southwind’s blowing my love.
    All my love, yeah, all of my love to you. All my love to you, yeah.

    (written by Pedersen)

  4. Garden Song

    Garden Song

    Inch by inch, row by row, gonna make this garden grow.
    All it takes is a rake and a hoe and a piece of fertile ground.
    Inch by inch, row by row, Someone bless the seeds I sow.
    Someone warm them from below, ’til the rain comes tumbling down.

    Pulling weeds and picking stones, man is made of dreams and bones.
    Feel the need to grow my own ’cause the time is close at hand.
    Grain for grain, sun and rain, find my way in nature’s chain,
    to my body and my brain to the music from the land.

    Plant your rows straight and long, thicker than with prayer and song.
    Mother Earth will make you strong if you give her love and care.
    Old crow watching hungrily, from his perch in yonder tree.
    In my garden I’m as free as that feathered thief up there.

    Inch by inch, row by row, gonna make this garden grow.
    All it takes is a rake and a hoe and a piece of fertile ground.
    Inch by inch, row by row, Someone bless the seeds I sow.
    Someone warm them from below, ’til the rain comes tumbling down.

    (written by Mallett)

  5. Songs of…

    Songs of…

    Songs of the future, songs of the past, songs of the first day, songs of the last,
    songs of tomorrow, songs of the play, songs of the struggle, songs of the way.

    Songs of the future, songs of the past, songs of the first day, songs of the last,
    songs of tomorrow, songs of the play, songs of the struggle, songs of the way.

    (written by John Denver)

Albums