[Verse 1] Out behind the house in the backyard sun, There was a game we'd only just begun. Dad's tall-ies stood in a growing line, Big brown bottles, empty and fine. We'd stack them up from the longest row, Then build them shorter as we'd go. Clink, clink, clatter, one by one, Our amber castle had begun. [Chorus] Amber castles in the backyard sun, Built from the bottles when the day was done. Row upon row, climbing toward the sky, Our little kingdom where the tall-ies lie. We didn't need a palace, we didn't need a throne, We had amber castles of our very own. [Verse 2] There'd be a bottle here and a bottle there, Carefully balanced with a child's care. We'd stand back proud of the walls we'd made, A grand little fortress in the afternoon shade. No bricks or mortar, no tower stone, Just Dad's old tall-ies we'd somehow made our own. And every time another bottle came, We'd find another place in the castle's frame. [Chorus] Amber castles in the backyard sun, Built from the bottles when the day was done. Row upon row, climbing toward the sky, Our little kingdom where the tall-ies lie. We didn't need a palace, we didn't need a throne, We had amber castles of our very own. [Verse 3] Then the rain came down and the creek ran high, Dark clouds gathered across the sky. The water came rushing through our yard, And our amber castles didn't stand so hard. One by one we watched them sway, Then float like little boats away. But we weren't about to let them go... We chased those bottles through the flow! [Verse 4] We'd wade through the water, laughing and wet, Catching each tall-ie we could possibly get. One by the fence and two by the tree, “There's another one! Come and help me!” Muddy and dripping, we'd drag them ashore, Lay them in rows like we'd done before. The flood had taken our castle away, But we'd build another one the very next day. [Chorus] Amber castles after rain, Built back up and built again. The water could scatter them down the yard, But putting them back wasn't quite so hard. We didn't need a palace, we didn't need a throne, We had amber castles of our very own. [Verse 5] Every now and then Dad would make the call, “Bottle-o man, we've got a load for you all.” Down he'd come with his truck and gear, And we'd watch those bottles disappear. Months of clinking, stacked up row by row, Loaded away and off they'd go. And Dad would get a few dollars back, For every empty bottle we'd put in his stack. [Bridge] And what do you think those coins bought? Well, maybe a castle was all that we got... But somewhere along the way we'd find, Another load of tall-ies, and another castle in mind. Round and round the whole thing would go, That's just the way that childhood goes. What Dad saw as bottles, we somehow knew Could become a castle if we wanted them to. [Final Chorus] Amber castles in the backyard sun, Built from the bottles when the day was done. Floods could come and wash them away, We'd gather them up and build again the next day. We didn't need a palace, we didn't need a throne, We had amber castles of our very own. [Outro] Clink, clink, clatter... hear that sound? Another little castle going up from the ground. Dad had his tall-ies, we had our game, And every old bottle was never quite the same. Amber castles... Brown glass shining in the afternoon sun. Amber castles... A child's kingdom, Built one bottle at a time.
