Great High Mountain – (Jack White) Edmund Hillary Tribute
Here is my banjo cover tribute to the late great Sir Ed, a very popular man here in New Zealand. Jack White did a wonderful version of this for ‘Cold Mountain’. I don’t think there can be a more perfect metaphor than this song for the life of Sir Ed and indeed all our lives.
I myself shall be making my own attempt on the great high mountain (Everest Base Camp) next year – whoopee!!
The photo is from Jon Krakauer’s book ‘Into Thin Air – A Personal Account of the Everest Disaster’ which is one of the best books you’ll ever read. Krakauer also wrote ‘Into the Wild’, another incredible book now popularised in Sean Penn’s Oscar nominated film.
And now the lyrics:
Once I stood at the foot of a great high mountain
That I wanted so much to climb
And on top of this mountain was a beautiful fountain
That flows with the waters of life
I fell down on my knees at the foot of this mountain
I cried, “O Lord what must I do?
I want to climb this mountain, I want to drink from this fountain
That flows so clear in my view”
Then I heard a sweet voice from the top of this mountain
Saying, “Child put your hand in mine”
I started climbing slowly, “Watch your steps at the edges
And take one step at a time”
I started climbing upward taking one step at a time
The higher I got the harder I climbed
I’m still climbing upward and my journey’s almost ended
I’m nearing the top and you ought to see the view
Oh the water flows freely, there’s enough to make you free
So friend if you’re thirsty climb this mountain with me
Duration : 0:4:10
mrsbeagle67 14Jun09
great job
great job
jackrusselsrulz 14Jun09
Everest as climbing …
Everest as climbing goes isnt a difficult climb the dangerous part is the altitude and the peak fever everyone gets climbing it.
szuberi 14Jun09
granted hillary …
granted hillary step is a technical hurdle but 2nd step is no piece of cake either…since you said you will prefer the north side
joeburton77 14Jun09
I’m just going to …
I’m just going to base camp! not nearly crazy or rich enough to try and go to the top. This will be from the nepal side as opposed to the tibet side I think.
stevo0665 14Jun09
Not that I know …
Not that I know anything about it, but are you going up the south or north? I just read Into Thin Air and I’ve watched the program on Discovery where they climb from the north. The north route seems so much safer to me w/o the icefall and the hillary step. i can’t imagine trying to traverse the hillary step at that altitude. Plus isn’t the north route much cheaper?
joeburton77 14Jun09
thanks!
thanks!
stevo0665 14Jun09
good luck on your …
good luck on your journey.
joeburton77 14Jun09
I’ve lived in …
I’ve lived in Dunedin, NZ for over 4 years but I am from London
welldone987 14Jun09
Are you from NZ?
Are you from NZ?
campfirestring 14Jun09
yeah, still havent …
yeah, still havent seen the movie, really really want to. maybe more sufjan, thanks for asking!
joeburton77 14Jun09
thanks, will do
thanks, will do
joeburton77 14Jun09
I agree too, that …
I agree too, that cold mountain soundtrack is great, and alison krauss does some awesome tradional folk.. beautiful in its simplicity
joeburton77 14Jun09
hey, glad you liked …
hey, glad you liked it! sir ed was a great high mountain of a man for sure!!
joeburton77 14Jun09
yeh, it’s a great …
yeh, it’s a great book.. have you seen the film?..also fantastic..hope all is well with you.. any new iron and wine covers in the pipeline?
campfirestring 14Jun09
if you liked into …
if you liked into thin air, you’ll probably like into the wild too, sad, terrible story, but a good read.
decyx2 14Jun09
I agree. Truly …
I agree. Truly inspirational.
beethovenbix 14Jun09
“Hey YEAH Joe”!!! …
“Hey YEAH Joe”!!! Mate, your virsatility and
great musicianship is always a pleasure to hear. Being from NewZealand and living here in
the City where Sir EDmund died recently-its a joy to hear you do this great old folk song and to dedicate it to such a great old guy who
spent most of his life doing charity work for the poor people of Nepal and India. He said that building schools, houses and roads for those people was more important to him than climbing Everest. Thanks for the song Joe!!!
aboutabear 14Jun09
Good ol’ …
.
Good ol’ traditional folk music. Theres not enough of it these days. Great song
diabloman91 14Jun09
wow..wonderful. =] …
wow..wonderful. =]
You are a wonderful musician, plz keep it up i enjoy all your covers.
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