"Sixteen Lanes Of Highway" lyrics - MURRAY MCLAUCHLAN

I once had a swamp when I was younger
The ducks and geese would pass in the fall and spring
Bulrushes sighed and the frogs would roar like thunder
In the evening you could hear the blackbirds sing

And to the east, rose a briar hill above me
And we'd sit up there and watch the clouds roll by
We didn't know that we'd be saying so long
To the frogs and the birds and the dragonflies

[Chorus:]
Now paradise is 16 lanes of highway
And the peace is gone and the cars roll by each day
And the house in which I grew now affords a lonely view
It overlooks a 16 lane highway

And the tractors came and the trucks and the heavy graders,
And in a month, they tore that swamp apart
And they left an ugly scar while we stood watching
For a progress a mind of planner's work of art

And the people that I knew all started moving
And the houses store there empty row on row
And the ones that didn't take the easy money
Were later sold out short and forced to go

[Chorus]

Now the city's gone on by to take some more land
And the ducks and geese ain't been around for years
And the kids who come of age in those apartments
Will never understand my bitter tears

They'll never see a thing that wasn't put there
They'll never see a wild thing growing free
And they'll never know a quiet day of living
God help all the kids but please help me

[Chorus]