Song 19 of 27 · From Darkness Into Light
Keep the Country Living
Composer's Blueprint
- Signature motif
- E-G-A-B-G-E, blues-rock hook with bend on G.
- Harmonic engine
- Em-C - G-D; bridge Am-C-Em-D.
- Prosody — lyric emphasis
- COUNTRY/LIVING/WATER/LAND on strong beats; avoid cramming “make a living with the land.”
- Emotional-frequency automation
- 174/396: low E pulse and dry vocal. 528: Hammond + vocal thirds. 741: thinner guitars, brighter flute and clear diction.
- Transition — ending cue
- Final guitar phrase quotes living-land motif, then lands on E without overlong sustain.
Instruments
- Vocal design: Lead E3-G4, optional B4 peak. Begin with chest-led weight for the 174/396 grounding-release stage. At 528, open the vowels and widen the harmony; at 741, let diction become bright and clear. Save the highest comfortable note for “living,” then release downward rather than holding tension.
- Arrangement: Low E guitar pulse, tom-heavy drums, melodic bass, Hammond/piano, flute counterline, wide guitar solo. Start dark and spacious, grow into a broad major-leaning final chorus.
The notes and instruments stand exactly as created — skilled musicians can already play this music as written.
Lyrics
Verse 1
There is money in the mountain, but a mountain is not gold,
There is value in a river no balance sheet can hold.
Trail dust on the tires, morning on the lake,
Every choice we leave behind is another world we make.
Pre-Chorus
Keep the forest breathing, keep the shoreline clear,
Build a road to wonder, not a road to disappear.
Chorus
Keep the country living, keep the water blue,
Let the work of human hands give something back there too.
From the lodge light in the valley to the fire on the hill,
Make a living with the land and let the land be living still.
Verse 2
Hunters in the timber, anglers in the rain,
Skiers on the high ridge riding winter like a train.
Local food and local hands, a table set with pride,
A stronger town is growing where the wild and work abide.
Bridge
Not every treasure leaves the earth in trucks and trains,
Some of it is clean air, some of it is summer rain.
Some of it is children learning names of every tree—
A future worth protecting is the richest thing to see.
Final Chorus
Keep the country living, let the high notes rise,
From the cedar-darkened valley to the clear northern skies.
Build the dream with open hands, with wisdom, love and will—
Make a living with the land and let the land be living still.
Download & Print — for the studio
Download this song’s sheet (PDF)
This song’s sheet as held in the collection — its lyrics, its notes, its frequency arc and its instruments. Print this page or the sheet and take it into the studio.