Peaceful Valley Boulevard Lyrics

[Verse 1]
One day shots rang out in the peaceful valley
God was crying tears that fell like rain
Before the railroad came from Kansas City
And the bullets hit the bison from the train
The first shots rang across the peaceful valley
And the white man laid his foot upon the plain

[Verse 2]
A wagon train rolled through the dusty canyon
The settlers full of wonder as they crossed
A gentle creek where two old oaks were standin'
Before the west was won, there was a cost
A rain of fire came down upon the wagons
A mother screamed and every soul was lost


[Verse 3]
Change hit the country like a thunderstorm
Ancient rivers soon began to boil
People rushed like water to California
At first they came for gold and then for oil

Fortunes were made and lost in lifetimes
Mother Earth took poison in her soil

[Verse 4]
An Electra Cruiser coasted towards the exit
And turned on Peaceful Valley Boulevard
"People make the difference" read a billboard
Above a long line of idling cars

Who'll be the one to lead this world?
Who'll be the beacon in the night?
[Bridge]
Who'll be the one to lead this world?
Who'll be the beacon in the night?
Who'll be the one to lead the nations
And protect God's creations?

[Verse 5]
A polar bear stood driftin' on an ice floe
Sun beating down from the sky
Politicians gathered for a summit
And came away with nothing to decide

Storms thundered on, his tears of falling rain
A child was born and wondered why

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About

Genius Annotation

The penultimate track on Young’s thirty-first studio album, Le Noise, Boulevard is a reverberating, seven minute track dedicated to describing the change of a idyllic landscape in the American West to a dirty, bustling metropolitan center in the span of two hundred years. This song is a good example of Young’s environmental feelings, the last verse finally concerning climate change, and in particular polar bears and the threat posed to them and other species by this fact of life.

Credits
Produced By
Written By
Acoustic Guitar
Recorded At
Le Noise, Silver Lake - Los Angeles (March 28, 2010)
Release Date
September 28, 2010
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