If you enjoyed the music from the video, be sure to check out "Kourage" on iTunes.
Lyrics from the video:
Verse 1
In the beginning, there was
Washington geology
Gigantic floods swept in and
Shaped our state's topology
Rivers carved out the rocks and
Glaciers made odd formations
We have both the wettest state
And dryest in the nation!
And on the rainy side, the
Coastal Indians live and roam
While on the desert side, the
Plains dwellers make their home
Until the 1770's
Natives lived here alone
Until the settlers came from
Europe, to shores unknown
Chorus
Listen, and I will bring you up to date
On the long, proud history of Washington State
The story may take a little while to tell-
But it's a high school requirement, so listen well.
Verse 2
They came from Spain and Russia
Heceta, y Quadra, and more
Juan Perez sailed the coast
In 1774
Captain Cook reached Cape Flatter-
y in March of '78
Vancouver named Rainier and
Baker after his two mates
Lewis and Clark were surprised
By the Columbia and the Snake
Then, at the sea, they carved:
"By land from the U. States"
England and America's
Fur trade quickly grew
American Revolution
Only stopped them for a year or two!
Chorus 2 (and 3)
Fur company headquarters was the plan
When John Jacob Astor built Fort Spokane
McLoughlin killed beavers in heaps and throngs,
He didn't do much, but he did it wrong.
Indians killed Thorn, fighting over fur
Insulting a chief, what morons they were!
Wilkes sailed the Sound, through wind and gale
Bonneville mapped out the Oregon trail
Verse 3
Protestant missionaries
Journeyed across the land
Like Whitman and Narcissa
Who perished by natives' hands!
Catholics and Protestants
Fought over who was right
James K. Polk won with slogan
"Fifty-four forty or fight!"
1830's brings Oregon fever
Newcomers coming down
Welcoming chief Seattle
Gave his name to the town.
Frightened by Whitman murder,
Settlers want to join U.S.
Governor Isaac Stevens
Doesn't have much success!
Chorus 4 (and 5)
Stevens met Seattle, so goes the myth
Who gave a speech, so said Henry Smith
Stevens' reservations were brand new
Before he died in 1862.
Colored men to Washington made a push
Under the banner of Washington Bush
Lyman Cutlar shot Charles Griffen's boar
And nearly started a Washington war
Verse 4
Near by Fort Colville, miners
Made finding gold their goal
But rather than gold, the booming
Industry became coal!
People at Fort Vancouver
Witnessed the first steamboat
In 1835, the
Steamboats started to float
Then Chinese work camps opened
On the Columbia's shore
And the Mosquito Fleet shipped
Mail, pianos, cows, and more
We wanted a railroad, and
James J. Hill said, as well,
"Give me Swedes and whisky, and
I'll build a railroad to Hell!"
Chorus 6 (and 7)
Newcomers came down just in time
To see eventful 1889
We produced so much darn fish
Maybe more than we might have wished.
Then the timber harvest struck it big,
We farmed apples and hops (not figs)
Mountaineering hobby is an uphill battle,
Alaskan gold rush only helps Seattle
WASHINGTON!
(Instrumental section here where Calvin and chorus dance all over in lots of different places.)
Verse 5
Edward and Asahel fight
Over gold rush pictures
Nineteen hundreds, the workmen
changed all of the fixtures.
In 1916, Boeing
Airplanes started to swing
And then in 1930
The car ferries were king!
For irrigation, the au-
thorities had a plan!
Ten years' work culminated
In the Grand Coulee Dam!
So, irrigation brought the
Water to grow the vine
Which, of course, brought us brand new
Washingtonian wine!
Chorus 8 (and 9 and 10)
Boeing, atomic power, ships-all grew
When we threw our weight behind World War II
We forced internment of the Japanese
'Cause minorities just aren't hard to seize
Nuclear reactors built in Washington State
Hanford health hazards cause debate
Hanford fueled the Fat Man atom bomb,
If nothing else, then atoms made us strong
(Song speeds up a bit here, and possibly moves up a half step)
William Douglas wrote, Go East, Young Man!
"He broke the mold"-that was his plan
Scoop and Maggie, famous senators
Cops in 70 arrest native demonstrators
Mt. St. Helens touched the sky
But in 1980, it blew sky high
WPPSS just couldn't keep aloft
In '75 Gates founded Microsoft.
(Finale)
Listen, and I will bring you up to date
On the long, proud history of Washington State
The story may take a little while to telll-
But it's a high school requirement, so listen well!
6 сен 2024
