American Child

This song appears on four albums, and was first released on the Autograph album, and has also been released on the Earth Songs, The Very Best of John Denver (Single CD) and The John Denver Collection - Calypso albums.

Goin' up to Alaska
Up to the land of the midnight sun
Where the whale and the polar bear run
O'er the icy blue sea

Goin' up to Alaska
Up to the north and the pioneer life
Where courage and strength still survive
And a man can be free

American Child, does the call of the wild
Ever sing through the mist of your dreams
Does it fly with the wind when you waken again
When it's gone do you know what it means

Can you picture the time when a man had to find
His own way through the cold
To come back again to all that you've been
Can't you see that it's time to come home

To the flowers and seas and the rivers and the trees
And the earth who's the mother of all
A promise once made - will it shine, will it fade
Will we rise with the vision or fall

Goin' up to Alaska
Up to the land of the midnight sun
Where the whale and the polar bear run
O'er the icy blue sea

Goin' up to Alaska
Up to the north and the pioneer life
Where courage and strength still survive
And a man can be free

Men can be free
Goin' up to Alaska
Goin' up to Alaska
Goin' up to Alaska

Words and music by John Denver and Joe Henry