AMERICAN CHILD
by John Denver & Joe Henry
Goin' up to Alaska
Up to the land of the midnight sun
Where the whale and the polar bear run
O'er the icy blue sea
Goin' up to Alaska
Up to the north and the pioneer life
Where courage and strength still survive
And a man can be free
American Child, does the call of the wild
Ever sing through the mist of your dreams?
Does it fly with the wind when you waken again
When it's gone do you know what it means?
Can you picture the time when a man had to find
His own way through an unbroken land
Before the machine changed the blue and the green
To something you can't understand
American Child, there's a burning inside you
That calls you away through the cold
To come back again to all that you've been
Can't you see that it's time to come home
To the flowers and trees and the rivers and the seas
And the earth who's the mother of all
A promise once made - will it shine, will it fade
Will we rise with the vision or fall
Goin' up to Alaska
Up to the land of the midnight sun
Where the whale and the polar bear run
O'er the icy blue sea
Goin' up to Alaska
Up to the north and the pioneer life
Where courage and strength still survive
And a man can be free
Men can be free
Goin' up to Alaska
Goin' up to Alaska
Goin' up to Alaska
Copyright 1977 by Cherry Lane Music
From the John Denver album "Autograph"