Michael Johnathon and Odetta - Gone Gonna Rise Again

Gone Gonna Rise Again
(Performed by Michael Jonathon and Odetta)


I remember the year my grandaddy died
Gone gonna rise again
We dug his grave on the mountainside
Gone gonna rise again
I was too young to understand
The way he felt about the land
But I could read his history in his hands
Gone gonna rise again

It's corn in the crib, apples in the bin
Gone gonna rise again
Ham in the smokehouse, cotton in the gin
Gone gonna rise again
Cows in the barn, hogs in the trough
You know he never had a lot
But he worked like the devil for the little he got
Gone gonna rise again

These apple trees on the mountainside
Gone gonna rise again
He planted the seeds just before he died
Gone gonna rise again
I guess he knew he'd never see
The red fruit hanging from the tree
But he planted the seeds for his children and me
Gone gonna rise again

High on the ridge above the farm
Gone gonna rise again
I think of my people that have gone on
Gone gonna rise again
Like a tree that grows in the mountain ground
The storms of life have cut 'em down
But the new wood springs from the roots underground
Gone gonna rise again