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Rhymes and Reasons Lyrics

Artist: John Denver
Album: Country Roads Collection

This song appears on eleven albums, and was first released on the Rhymes and Reasons Album, then This Is John Denver, The Rocky Mountain Collection, The Country Roads Collection, and Reflections. It has been rerecorded on The Very Best of John Denver (Double CD), John Denver (Italian), Country Classics and Greatest Hits Vol 1 Albums. Live versions also appear on An Evening With John Denver and The Wildlife Concert Albums.

So you speak to me of sadness
And the coming of the winter
Fear that is within you now
It seems to never end
And the dreams that have escaped you
And the hope that youve forgotten
You tell me that you need me now
You want to be my friend

And you wonder where were going
Wheres the rhyme and wheres the reason
And its you cannot accept
It is here we must begin
To seek the wisdom of the children
And the graceful way of flowers in the wind

For the children and the flowers
Are my sisters and my brothers
Their laughter and their loveliness
Could clear a cloudy day

Like the music of the mountains
And the colours of the rainbow
Theyre a promise of the future
And a blessing for today
Though the cities start to crumble
And the towers fall around us
The sun is slowly fading
And its colder than the sea

It is written from the desert
To the mountains they shall lead us
By the hand and by the heart
They will comfort you and me
In their innocence and trusting
They will teach us to be free

For the children and the flowers
Are my sisters and my brothers
Their laughter and their loveliness
Could clear a cloudy day

And the song that I am singing
Is a prayer to non believers
Come and stand beside us
We can find a better way

Words and music by John Denver

Comments/Interpretations

by Derak on 6/8/2008 9:13am
I could never figure out if he is talking about how to take care of and interact with children literally, or if he is talking about the new generation of young people and their ideas, or if he is talking most specifically about the hippies (flower children). Maybe it is a bit of all of the above in creating a brighter world.

by rommel b. lagrimas on 7/1/2008 9:32am
thanks for the song you are my idol. i love your songs.i am only 11 years old. im from philippines bye....

by Carole Davis on 8/27/2008 2:25pm
I wish Barak Obama would take this for his campaign song!

It remains my favorite of all the wonderful songs that John Denver wrote an performed. It still moves me to tears ... and action.

Thank you John ... wherever you are.

by checco da Roma on 12/20/2008 3:25pm
thak you john..

by TADJ ABDELKADER on 1/23/2009 1:54am
He is only a great Poet and one of those singers who sings simply words of life that he composes

by EAGLE-WOLF on 11/5/2009 1:26pm
This is a song with a timeless message. It is as important today as it was 40 years ago. It will be even more important in the future, if we want things to get better.

What I could never figure out is how someone as young as he was (about 23 at the time he wrote this song) could have the understanding, maturity, and wisdom to come up lyrics that are this potent and strong.

by Andrew on 11/18/2009 9:24am
This song is the perfect embodiment of Khalil Gibran's chapter on Children in 'The Prophet'. Staggeringly profound and so beautiful. Never fails to bring a tear to my eye, particularly when I see a new born baby.

by pinju on 4/13/2010 3:42am
it reminds my childhood

by anonymous on 9/5/2010 1:55pm
It's vintage JD spirituality, finding wisdom and meaning in nature. I wonder if there might also be a message to someone he was having disagrement or relationship problems with (his wife?). It would be interesting to see if he ever commented on this song, I don't recall anything from his autobiography.

by Marcus on 1/9/2011 9:31pm
"And the towers fall around us"-and Sept. 11-haunting.

by Gitonga on 3/1/2011 10:50am
First among equals

by jeff on 5/13/2011 12:17am
Did John foresee 911?

by JD Lovers on 7/23/2011 7:46pm
I very like this song. I like all your song, especially rhymes&reason, leaving on a jet plane, garden song, autograph, perhaps love, annie's song, eli's song and follow me. I'm only 14 years old
You're amazing. The world will be always miss you!!

by Ronald Corbett on 9/4/2011 4:59pm
Jeff,

I also heard the prediction of 9/11 in this song as we approach the 10-year anniversary of the destruction of the World Trade Center towers:

Though the cities start to crumble
And the towers fall around us
The sun is slowly fading
And its colder than the sea

I heard the lesson as well - 'believers' is a code word for Christians who believe that Jesus Christ is the promised Messiah of the Jews and the Incarnate Creator/God whose human life split time and changed history.

And the song that I am singing
Is a prayer to non believers
Come and stand beside us
We can find a better way

John Denver calls upon the listener to become the body of Christ on earth to find a better way for all mankind.

by Mukonda on 11/10/2011 6:39pm
this song makes me hungry

by Jesse Dee on 6/22/2012 5:36pm
He was born aware. He was aware of so very much at a very young age. He worried about everything and everyone. The wars, all of them, the air, the environment, hunger, the sucking of our Mother who is slowly giving up the fight. The oil companies continue with no end in sight. He worried all the time. It never left his thoughts, this world. We all were his sisters and his brothers. He just saw things that way. He had no choice. We were all his family.

by Teresa Keefe on 8/16/2012 9:39am
I just listened to this song this morning on an old cd of mine. It brought back such great memories of my youth and of all the inspiration that John Denver brought to us. It has a whole new special meaning now as I send off my children to college this fall & he reminds me that they are INDEED "a promise for the future and a blessing for today"! He was a wise man for his years. - God Bless You John!!

by Robert Gicharu on 7/13/2013 2:42pm
1979 was the international year of the child and the concert 'Music for the Unicef' featured this song and in my view it was the only song that was dedicated to children in that concert and Album. It's message has lingered in my mind and is as relevant for today's children as it was then. When is the next international year of the child and can we have a repeat of a similar concert. Only 'We are the world concert' in 1984 compares with this. God bless John Denver

by Ernst Waweru on 7/13/2013 2:56pm
Reminds ,e of two other songs dedicated to Children.
Children of Paradise- By Boney M
Greatest Love of All- Whitney Houston.
John Denver's message is poetic and not a recipe for the casual music lover. I guess it was targeted for serious human beings who have a heart for children. It is sad that all we read about is how children continue to be exploited sexually and through child labour. Michael Jackson also had a thing for children. May his soul R.I.P

by dlbvet on 8/30/2013 10:48pm
For the lost children of Syria....may we as a world start to value our children.
I miss John Denver.
What would he say of our world today I wonder.

by Jmcgov1 on 1/1/2014 12:15am
I will dream of a day when I can sit by the tree of life with Jesus, John and Elvis, and listen to the greatest gospel concert in the universe. I envision Jesus tapping his foot.
John often used words like "lovely "and "loving". Two very much needed words in today's lexicon! Rest in peace John. Jesus is coming soon to take us to that pure enviroment you so often spoke of.

by claire on 1/8/2014 7:05pm
Loved this song as a teenager and just recently rediscovered it. For some reason it moves me to tears. It is so beautiful.