Story Behind The Song

As a child I camped out with my family on the banks of the Merced, slept on a pineneedle mattress, explored rivers, met bears, swung in the tops of trees...

Song Description

A love song to Yosemite

Lyrics

I know a valley where waterfalls
Make white-water music down granite walls;
Where tucked into chinks and crevices,
Ferns and mosses grow;
Where sunbeams stream down through the firs,
Where a grasshopper leaps an hilarious leap,
Then leaps again and leaps for me...
And MY HEART GOES HOME, MY HEART GOES HOME,
MY HEART GOES HOME TO YOSEMITE.

I know a river begins in snow
In the high Sierras then melts and flows
And sings its way to the valley floor,
Now moving so deep,
Now swirling round over the rocks.
The Merced's its name and I lie i n its bed
And chase the silver minnows around me...
And MY HEART GOES HOME, MY HEART GOES HOME,
MY HEART GOES HOME TO YOSEMITE.

I know a wonder in the night:
A bonfire blazing at such a height
Atop a mighty granite wall
Till pushed from the ledge,
The fire falls, a red banner of light,
And far below I sit and watch
That banner glow enchantingly...
And MY HEART GOES HOME, MY HEART GOES HOME,
MY HEART GOES HOME TO YOSEMITE.