Chad Was Here

Our country’s wild places have always called to me

From the highest glacial mountains to where the lava meets the sea

Each place with its beauty one way all the same

When I get to where I’m going I always find your name

When Woody Guthrie sang this land’s for you and me

He didn’t really mean to go carve on every tree

Everywhere I go it seems a journey through your past

And Chad when I catch up to you I’m gonna kick your ass

I see you’ve been to Maui on the Hana Highway shore

Left your mark in the Redwoods littered on the forest floor

Vandalized the pictographs in Utah’s canyon walls

Then to Oregon and Crater Lake and Multnomah Falls

From Glacier Park to Yellowstone and all points in between

And even in New England up in Tuckerman’s Ravine

Then you went on Sherman’s March through the sunny southern states

I ain’t gonna lie to you Chad you’re an easy one to hate

Chad was here in ’84 and ’92

In ’96 he took the time to carve “fuck you”

Chad loved Jane and smoking pot in ’99

Into the new millennium is when he really caught his stride

Now listen Chad

It’s not a hippy ethic on those recreation maps

“Leave nothing but footprints take only photographs”

It’s just consideration for those who’ve yet to come

That don’t mean a thing to you you’re the most important one

It’s not how your parents raised you that made you go astray

You’re just the type of person who’s in everybody’s way

You drive everything from trophy cars to beat-up pickup trucks

You’re in everyone from the snot-nosed teen to the 40-year-old schmuck

Chad was here in ’84 and ’92

In ’96 he took the time to carve “fuck you”

Chad loved Jane and smoking pot in ’99

Into the new millennium is when he really caught his stride

I spent a season in the wilderness when your trail went cold

Had you never been to Idaho or did you just grow old

Or did the rise of social media give you all you need

Now do you just stare at your phone and leave alone the trees

If that’s what happened Facebook’s alright with me

If it’s what made you stop then Twitter’s just fine with me

Chad was here in ’84 and ’92

In ’96 he took the time to carve “fuck you”

Chad loved Jane and smoking pot in ’99

Into the new millennium is when he really caught his stride

Chad if we ever meet I’m gonna carve my name on you