You've Never Been to North Dakota

Have you ever seen a field alive with green
Thimbleweed and columbine and clover
Heard the black billed magpie call
As Summer fades to Fall
Watched the meadow turn to perfect white all over
I've lived here eighty years
And before it disappears
There are so many things I'd love to show you
Wondrous and serene
But if you don't know what I mean
Then you've never been to North Dakota

Have you looked up and read the note
Aurora Borealis wrote
While you were gently sung to sleep by a coyote
Felt your joints get stiff and cold
To let you know you're growing old
Till then you've never been to North Dakota

Well I guess you've heard the news
The oil trucks coming through
For a prairie moon they don't care one iota
Stand on the Cheyenne River shore
And watch a Golden Eagle soar
'Till then you've never been to North Dakota

A long and dusty road
Wind swept pasture land
Green and white and yellow in the sunshine
Listen hear the Sharptailed Grouse
Watch the tiny meadow mouse
Smell the chilly wind come through the Ponderosa Pine
But a new crowd's come about
And inflation pushed me out
So long my friends it's sure been good to know you
They can drill for oil and stay
But no matter what they say
None of them have really been to North Dakota