Album: Searchin' for a Rainbow (1975)

Charted: 38

License This Song 

• Took my family away from my Carolina home
  Had dreams about the west and started to roam
  Six long months on a dust covered trail
  They say heaven's at the end, but so far it's been hell
  
  And there's fire on the mountain, lightning in the air
  Gold in them hills and it's waiting for me there
  
  We were digging and sifting from five to five
  Selling everything we found just to stay alive
  Gold flowed free like the whiskey in the bars
  Sinning was the big thing, Lord and Satan was the star
  
  And there's fire on the mountain, lightning in the air
  Gold in them hills and it's waiting for me there
  
  Dance hall girls were the evening treat
  Empty cartridges and blood lined the gutters of the street
  Men were shot down for the sake of fun
  Or just to hear the noise of their forty-four guns
  
  And there's fire on the mountain, lightning in the air
  Gold in them hills and it's waiting for me there
  
  Now my widow, she weeps by my grave
  Tears flow free for her man she couldn't save
  Shot down in cold blood by a gun that carried fame
  All for a useless and no good worthless claim
  
  And there's fire on the mountain, lightning in the air
  Gold in them hills and it's waiting for me there
  
  Fire on the mountain, lightning in the air
  Gold in them hills and it's waiting for me there
  Waiting for me there Writer/s: George McCorkle
  Publisher: Spirit Music Group
  Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 13

• Armin from Dallas/fort WorthIt's amazing to find out the pedal steel guitar was out of tune. If Toy Caldwell couldn't tune it, he sure could play it. A very fortunate accident, like Al Kooper's story about being so nervous about playing on Dylan's Like a Rolling Stone that his organ kept coming in at a sixteenth note behind the beat. It's hard to imagine either of those great songs any other way.
  
  Another reason why music today sucks: no pedal steel guitar.
• Judy from Clear Lake, IaLove the voice, the steel guitar (even if it's not in tune!), the story.... Listen to this song quite often.
• Deanna from ChesapeakeHe lives and sings because he is in heaven with God almighty, Jesus The Christ. As we all who are His children will do whether in life or earthly death, we live!
• Jg from NcDoes anyone else hear any influence from the famous "Ghost Riders In The Sky"
• Michael from ArkansasI would like to know whose gun it was that carried fame.
• Rd from Can.Toy Caldwell wrote a bulk of Marshal Tucker's material but this is definitely a George McCorkle song. Doug Gray delivers another outstanding vocal.
• Kyle from Pacific NorthwestFire on the Mountain was actually written by George McCorkle. Doug Gray, however, sang the song.
• Colton from Concord, CaThis is one of the best songs I've ever heard in my life. The Marshall Tucker Band is one my most favorite bands. I like pretty much every song I've ever heard by them, and they have very many. This song however since I first discovered them was an instant tear jerker for me. It's one of a very few songs that no matter how many times I hear it, still brings tears to my eyes. The story of a man that heads west with his family in search of a heavenly land of unlimited fortune, - only to end up toiling in the dirt before losing his life over the greed for a worthless gold claim - is the typical experience of the many people caught up in the many 19th century American gold rushes. I like to think it's about CA since I've grown up in gold country, but it is probably about an earlier gold rush closer to Carolina. The pioneers who tamed the west for America are rarely appreciated for the mammoth hardships they had to overcome to make it the way it is today. This song shows u a rare glimpse of the REAL "Wild West", an unforgiving lawless land ruled by greed and corruption, a place that often brought out man's evil side, but is a testament to our ability with hope to overcome anything. Most importantly this song allows us a powerful taste of some of the emotions they must have experienced.
• Bill from Pensacola, Fl"The last verse of the song makes no sense. It talks about how the singer got killed. But if he's dead, how can he still be singing?"
  Joshua thats the beauty of songs and poetry, the story can escape boundaries and dimensions. The singer can be here one minute and on another plane next as the story goes along. a lot of folk songs do this. It tells the whole story. and is sung about later by someone else, but still from the first person perspective. Most of MTB songs tell a story.
  
• Dan from Winthrop, MaMarshall Tucker was a blind piano tuner who rented the warehouse before the band.
• Scott from Dahlonega, GaToy Caldwell wrote many great songs. But Im pretty sure bandmate George McCorkle wrote this one.
• Abe Celik from Fairfield Glade, TnIts great living in the TN mountains.
• Joshua from New Berlin, WiThe last verse of the song makes no sense. It talks about how the singer got killed. But if he's dead, how can he still be singing?

More Songfacts:

Fight SongRachel Platten

Rachel Platten refused to talk politics when her "Fight Song" became the anthem for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign, a decision she came to regret.

Crazy In LoveBeyoncé

Jay-Z did the rap on "Crazy In Love" at the last minute. He and Beyoncé had started dating and the Texan songstress asked him to get on the song the night before she had to turn in her album.

When I'm 64The Beatles

In The Beatles' "When I'm 64," Paul McCartney asks a woman if she'll still be there for him when he's 64. In 2006, he got his answer when shortly before his 64th birthday, he and Heather Mills separated.

Born In The U.S.A.Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen's "Born In The U.S.A." was inspired by the book (later a movie) Born On The Fourth Of July by Ron Kovic, a Vietnam veteran who protested the war when he returned home.

Take Me to the RiverAl Green

Al Green's "Take Me to the River" describes a baptism. Two years later, he became a reverend.

Freak On A LeashKorn

Korn's most popular song, "Freak On A Leash," is about their predatory record label making huge profits off the band. It was quite profitable, helping the Follow The Leader album sell over 5 million copies.

Editor's Picks

Art Alexakis of EverclearSongwriter Interviews

The lead singer of Everclear, Art is also their primary songwriter.

La La Brooks of The CrystalsSong Writing

The lead singer on "Da Doo Ron Ron" and "Then He Kissed Me," La La explains how and why Phil Spector replaced The Crystals with Darlene Love on "He's A Rebel."

Trans Soul Rebels: Songs About TransgenderismSong Writing

A history of songs dealing with transgender issues, featuring Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Morrissey and Green Day.

Lajon Witherspoon of SevendustSongwriter Interviews

The Sevendust frontman talks about the group's songwriting process, and how trips to the Murder Bar helped forge their latest album.

Jon Anderson of YesSongwriter Interviews

From the lake in "Roundabout" to Sister Bluebird in "Starship Trooper," Jon Anderson talks about how nature and spirituality play into his lyrics for Yes.

Angelo Moore of FishboneSongwriter Interviews

Fishbone has always enjoyed much more acclaim than popularity - Angelo might know why.