Story Behind The Song

The song tells the story of a couple that comes together in Colorado and eventually gets married. She had come from a ranching family and grew up riding in the Rocky Mountains, where she truly felt free. After she succumbs to an unnamed illness, she is buried in the high pasture that she loved so much. Their history together plays out against the backdrop of the Rockies at sundown.

Song Description

Recorded, mixed and mastered in Nashville, the song is a mid tempo ballad about love, loss and independence. It was written as an inspirational love story set against a backdrop of the Rockies.

Lyrics

THE HIGH PASTURE (IN THE SHADOW OF THE ROCKIES)
Mark Patterson Copyright 2022

I married for love but the money came with her
Her family owned the biggest spread around
Ten thousand acres on the Colorado River
In the shadow of the Rockies when the sun goes down

The foreman said she was riding before she could walk
And no one ever wondered where the girl could be found
She'd be in the high pasture with the elk and the hawks
In the shadow of the Rockies when the sun goes down

Chorus:
(She told me) If you want me you know where to find me
Where I can leave the madness behind me
In the high pasture that's where I'll be
In the saddle where I feel free
Where golden rays from a setting sun
Can restore the faith in anyone
I'll take a sky so perfect over people so flawed
It isn't heaven - I know
But it's a whole lot closer to God

The world stopped spinning when she told me the news
She cried and said please don't let the word get around
But when you lay me to rest this is where I choose
In the shadow of the Rockies when the sun goes down

One more year was all we were allowed
Now she watches over me from her higher ground
And I still see her smile when I kneel with her now
In the shadow of the Rockies when the sun goes down

(Chorus)

It isn't heaven - I know
But it's a whole lot closer to God