Oh, Mountaineer

I never said I want to climb mountains
I’m at base camp, it’s the middle of the night
I don’t like people who climb mountains
All of that fuss for a view you can stand right in

He said, ‘You’re a swamp.’ I said, ‘You’re an avalanche.’
He stood still as if to prove me wrong
Then he got on his bike, he said, ‘Are you coming?’
But my feet were bogged: I guess that he was right

I said, ‘No,
‘You’re free to go’

I wasn’t sure that I knew what I was doing
I picked up my stuff, can’t remember what I took
He said, ‘You know, I never thought I’d lose you’
But I wasn’t lost, he’d just forgotten where to look

Oh, mountaineer
We’re all down here

Clamber, creep
Scramble, sleep
Winter, oh winter goes down deep
It goes deep

So what do you learn as you wander in the valleys?
It’s warmer, it’s coming on to spring
When you go down, you find what you look for
When you go high, you won’t see a thing
You won’t see a thing

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