The Mile To The Mountains
© 1969 Bob Coltman
I suppose this song came from times of finding out that what ought to blow like breezes has a habit of getting stuck fast. We all talk about love, and say we like it, and yet we let it become a way of getting other things, and ruin it and break it and leave it gathering cobwebs. Many people would rather admire the view from a distance. And yet the mountains are there.

THE MILE TO THE MOUNTAINS
(Bob Coltman)

The mile to the mountains I must go
Because my fortune I don't know,
Fair girl, fair girl, just come and see,
I'll take you along with me,
The mile to the mountains it must be.

Oh no sir, no sir, I can't go,
Go and ask my sister though,
Traveling don't agree with me,
I'll stay by the banks of the sea.
The mile to the mountains never can be.

What will you have to persuade your mind?
A golden vessel and silver wine?
A hair-comb made of the sunbeam strong
And a gale to carry you along?
The mile to the mountains can never be wrong.

Oh sir, oh sir, and don't you know
That mile is the last I ever could go,
Many's the girl was bold and free
That walked that mile with thee
Never came back to the banks of the sea.

A mountain mile is a damned hard road,
And many's the girl the way you've showed,
You may talk of beauty fine and rare,
But you know I'll never go there.
The mile to the mountains I can't bear.

copyright Bob Coltman, 1965