To me, the most amazing thing about this song is the way that it juxtaposes the images of personal sorrow and pain against images of the vast of the natural landscape. Every time I hear it, I feel the presence of those tall stands of timber, looming over our petty troubles and mean ambitions, and am filled with a sense of wonder.

I suppose it could be meaningless to someone who has never seen the Pacific Northwest, and who had never felt small against the vastness of the trees, and the water, and the mountains.