[Intro — lone clawhammer banjo, boots on wet earth] [Verse 1] River give us water... Rain give us corn... Sun come through the holler... Warm an April morn... Mountain give us timber... Black earth give us clay... Everything we ever had... The good Lord's world done gave... [Instrumental — fiddle enters] [Verse 2] But I seen that river risin'... Brown against the trees... Seen a summer garden... Brought down to its knees... Seen lightning split the old oak... That stood since Grandpa's day... Nature don't ask nothin'... When she comes to take away... [Chorus] Nature giveth... Nature taketh away... She'll fill your field with plenty... Then wash it clean someday... Ain't no use in cursin'... What won't hear what you say... Nature giveth... And nature taketh away... [Banjo and fiddle] [Verse 3] Had a little cabin... Down beside the creek... Daddy built her sturdy... With his own two hands one week... Thirty years she held there... Through winter, wind, and rain... Then one night that water rose... And took her down the way... [Verse 4] Come mornin' we went lookin'... Where that old house stood... Found the chimney scattered... Half-buried in the mud... But high upon the hillside... Where the storm had broke the pine... Little yellow flowers... Were reachin' for the light... [Chorus] Nature giveth... Nature taketh away... She'll break an ancient timber... Then grow a bloom next May... Ain't no good nor evil... In the wind, the flood, the flame... Nature giveth... And nature takes the same... [Instrumental — mournful fiddle over rolling banjo] [Bridge — low, weathered voice] Reckon we forget sometimes... This mountain ain't our own... We ain't but little visitors... Borrowin' dirt and stone... The deer don't own the meadow... The crow don't own the sky... And we don't own tomorrow... No matter how we try... [Quiet banjo] So plant when it's plantin'... Reap when it's time... Drink from the river... Rest beneath the pine... Love what she lends ye... While it's yours today... 'Cause everything that's given... Can just as soon be taken away... [EXTREME METAL ERUPTION — thunder crack, fiddle shriek, distorted banjo] [Final Chorus — guttural lead, enormous tremolo guitars, blast beats, frantic clawhammer banjo, screaming Appalachian fiddle] [Guttural] NATURE GIVETH!!! [Gang chant] NATURE TAKETH AWAY!!! [Guttural] SHE'LL BRING THE SPRINGTIME SINGIN'!!! [Deep Southern baritone] Then bury it... [Guttural] IN GRAY!!! [Massive riff — fiddle and tremolo guitar play the same mountain melody] [Guttural] BUT AFTER EVERY HARD RAIN!!! THEM MOUNTAINS!!! [Choir] STILL REMAIN!!! [Guttural] NATURE GIVETH!!! NATURE TAKETH AWAY!!! [Half-time ceremonial drums] NATURE!!! GIVETH!!! NATURE!!! TAKETH!!! [Guttural scream] AWAAAAAAY!!! [Violent fiddle break — frantic clawhammer banjo beneath blast beats] [Everything drops except low drone and distant thunder] [Deep Southern baritone — solemn] We come up... From her soil... [Distorted guitar slowly swelling] And we'll go back... [Guttural whisper] Back to the earth... [Full band impact] [Guttural] THERE SOMEDAY!!! [Enormous sustained chord — thunder rolls through the mountains] [ABRUPT HARD CUT TO SILENCE] [Outro — lone mournful fiddle, gentle clawhammer banjo, swollen river] [Soft Southern baritone] River's still a-runnin'... Like it always done... [Banjo rolls softly] Storm done crossed the mountain... Here comes the sun... [Long instrumental outro — fiddle carries the original folk melody while banjo answers; distant tremolo guitar slowly dissolves into ambience] [River rushing] [Rain dripping from leaves] [Birdsong gradually returning] [Final solitary banjo note] [Silence]
