Rock Columbia

Lyrics: Robert Hunter
Music: Robert Hunter

Up on the mountain, feeling tired and alone
Thinking it over, over and over
I feel like a rock among stone
Even the sweet go wrong
Life is a heartbeat long
The urge to sing was strong
I swung my battered guitar like a net
And caught me a startled song
On the wing

Chorus
Rock Columbia, roll Columbia
Hey, good lookin', you can make a poor boy sing
Rock the sun up, roll the clouds away
Columbia roll

Up on the mountain I saw cities spread out like a map
San Francisco away to my left, New York right in my lap
I could see Boston below
Cincinnati, Ohio
People I love and know
Frightened and fighting, portraits in lightning
It was a hell of a show
And I know

[chorus]

Portraits in lightning
Pretenses fell
Rock, bone, blood, and the bell
The roar of the wind, the faces within
Asking: For who does it toll?
It tolls for thee

[chorus]

Darkness descended, I had nothing to keep out the cold
I stumbled and fell a number of times
On the high shortcut to the road
Sweet road take me home
Rock, blood, and bone (note 1)
I found my car though I was alone
I said: Driver take me home
If you can

[chorus]
Columbia roll
Columbia roll