Wild Montana skies    (intro)

 

    D - G - A - D

 

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1. He was born in the Bitteroot Valley in the early morning rain,

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    wild geese over the water, heading north and home again.

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   Bringin' a warm wind from the south, bringin' the first taste of the spring,

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    his mother took him to her breast and softly she did sing:

 

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Oh, Montana, give this child a home,

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give him the love of a good family and a woman of his own.

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Give him a fire in his heart, give him a light in his eyes,

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give him the wild wind for a brother and the wi...ld Montana skies.

 

+ G - A - D

 

             D                                                 G                        D

2. His mother died that summer and he never learned to cry,

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    he never knew his father and he never did ask why.

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    And he never knew the answers that would make an easy way,

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    but he learned to know the wilderness and to be a man that way.

 

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3. His mother's brother took him in to his family and his home,

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    gave him a hand that he could lean on and a strength to call his own.

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    And he learned to be a farmer and he learned to love the land,

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    and he learned to read the seasons and he learned to make a stand.

 

+ CHORUS     + G - A - D

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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4. On the eve of his 21st birthday, he set out on his own,

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    he was 30 years and runnin' when he found his way back home.

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    Ridin' a storm across the mountains and an achin' in his heart,

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    said he came to turn the pages and to make a brand new start.

 

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5. Now he never told the story of the time that he was gone,

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    some say he was a lawyer, some say he was a john.

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    There was something in the city that he said he couldn't breathe,

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    there was something in the country that he said he couldn't leave.

 

+ CHORUS    + instrumental = verse 5

 

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6. Now some say he was crazy and some are glad he's gone,

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    but some of us will miss him and we'll try to carry on.

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    Giving a voice to the forest, giving a voice to the dawn,

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    giving a voice to the wilderness and the land that he lived on.

 

+ CHORUS (2x)    + G - A - D

 

    (John Denver & Emmylou Harris)