Orion is arising
Orion is arising
You can see his stars ablazing
Way out here in the middle of a deep blue country sky.
And still what is amazing
You can see his stars ablazing
Way out here where nothing hides it from my eyes.
And sleeping outside in a bag as a kid
It seems like the best thing that I ever did
And chasing the shadows
and the tracks in the snow
Don't you know?
The world is getting older
and I really start to wonder
why we're clouding all the country skys to gray
The world is getting colder
I can hear it in the thunder
and the rain may come and chase us all away!
And sleeping outside in a bag as a kid
It seems like the best thing that I ever did
And chasing the shadows
and the tracks in the snow
Don't you know?
The moon is on the wane
And it looks like it might rain
Or maybe snow.
And how are we to stay here
When there's no room left to play here
Or to grow
Don't you know? Don't you know?
Speedracer adds: Google helped me find the back-story, along with reminiscences of a lot of Gen Xers.
43 comments:
Oh my, I do know that song. Thanks for the written rendition. Now that it's in my mind, I feel like Frankie.
LOL. poor dad!
I'm the writer of "Orion", and you have the lyrics almost right. If you're interested, contact me at jkzim@verizon.net.
we sang this song in choir when i was in 6th grade --either 1975 or 1976. I can't get some of these lyircs out of my head, some 30-odd years later! thanks for posting.
You could NOT NOT NOT be the writier!
I sang this song in music
I think it's:
"and it's never too surprising that the sky is still amazing way out here where nothing hides it from my eyes."
I too sanf this in grade-school choir.Some things stick in your head. Even 30 years later. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
I sang this song in 6th grade in 1982 and I still remember the first stanza. I think about it almost every time I see Orion in the sky at night. Wow.
I totally agree! Practicing this song in grade school and being one of the first songs you sing in front of a crowd. It's a very simple but catchy song. I will remember this tune until I am dust. (I still find myself humming this song at work. Weird!)
I used to sing this song in the fourth grade as well. We must have all had the same songbook. But I remember the lyrics in my head as "Orion is arising, you can see his stars ablazing in the middle of a clear-eyed country sky."
I sang this song in grade school too. I sang it to both my children when they were babies, and now as a Neonatal Intensive care nurse...I sing it to my babies when they need comforting. Thanks for the words...and the memories!
We sang this as a kid too, I think it was about 6th grade. Then 25 years later when we couldn't agree on a name for our son. Orion was there to help us out! I sing it to him every night and he just loves it. Thanks for posting.
I remember it from my sixth grade song book. One of the standard textbooks. But that was back when public school could afford to have one music teacher and one art teacher, so we had each class one day a week. One person's version has an extra satnza that did not get printed in our book. I always thought it was John Denver who wrote it. I sang it for entertainment at a camp once as an adult. It has a haunting fifth note (fifth of the eight notescale).
1988 or 89, Thomas Edison Elementary, Ms. Witham. 4th grade music. She had so much confidence in us. I have never forgotten even a word to the song and the blue and white program cover.
We sang it in chorus in high school (about 1985 or so) and I can still remember most of the words except for just a few even after all this time (wow, 26 years). This and "Billy Boy" I don't think will ever be gone from my head.
I wish I could put other stuff into that spot in my brain --- maybe I could find my damn cell phone then!!
We used to sing this to our daughters every night as a lullaby. They could not go to sleep without hearing it. I had never heard it. my husband introduced it to me and our daughters and now it's one of our all-time favorites.
Thanks for posting!!! I am ANOTHER person that has been singing this song since the 4th grade or so. I'm now 43, but every now and then, this song just starts rolling through my head. =) Be blessed!
Love this song! I sang it in 6th grade in 1975-76 as well! I was just singing it to my 5 year old tonight! I wish I could find a recording of it or a video on youtube!
Also, I was telling my daughter and my husband that I loved it so much because it was a John Denver kind of song, so funny womeone else posted that they thought JD wrote it!
And we also sang:
"Orion is arising
You can see his stars ablazing
In the middle of a clear eyed coutry sky.
And it's never too surprising that his stars are still amazing."
I remembered only a few words to this song and tried to google them --and your website came up!! Thank you! I remember singing it to my brother on car-trips in ND in the dark after learning it in school. Now I live in Japan, and I can barely see the stars for all the lights. This song is precious. Thanks for posting the lyrics.
We sang this in elementary school music class and every now and then it pops into my head.
Is there some relationship to Michigan with this song? I grew up in MI and also remember learning it in music class in the mid-70's. I'm now 43 and was looking it up to possibly perform at a "sun, moon, stars, planets" themed karaoke night. There are lots of Michigan ads & mentions on the pages that I have been looking at so I wondered if it was a regional thing. I'm gonna go ahead and assume there's not a karaoke version of it out there then! :)
So glad I found this!! brings back memories of 1979 being in third grade! Fun times. Sing this song all the time even to my daughter when she was a baby (now she's 9) great feel good song. My daughter's third grade class studying Orion made me want to sing this again to her! :)
Love it! I san this song in fifth grade in 76-77 in southeastern Ohio. I thought it was so beautiful, and so sad. I sing it frequently even now, especially when looking at Orion in the sky. There is just something about those old songs...
Thank you for posting this song. I've sung the chorus in my head since 1972 when I was in 4th grade in CA. I loved it then and still love it now. Now I remember the rest of the words!
Oh my goodness!! this was my favorite song in the 4th grade in 1977. I wish I could actually hear it!!!
My sixth grade choir is singing this song this year (: its very pretty.
Mt. View Elementary School
Omaha Nebraska
Mrs. Draper
Fourth-grade... the purple music book... I remember praying to advance from red (3rd grade) to purple.
Guess what I hum when I dare to look up in the sky and see stars... doing my morning runs? Only remembering the first two lines... to drive whomever I'm running with crazy. I always promised myself I'll Google it and forget it until tonight.
Such a beautiful song for a simple time in life.
I have been searching for this song for years! No one seems to know what I'm talking about, I thought maybe I imagined it lol! I learned it in elementary school (probably 5th or 6th grade '82-'83) in Great Falls, MT. Thank you Google for bringing me here!
Thank you for posting these lyrics! I've had this song in my head since elementary school in Davenport, iA. Thanks, Mrs. Gray! In case anyone is interested, there is now a posting on YouTube of the song sung by Skip Myers! Dan Myers, and Julie Dutchak. The lyrics are a bit different, but the melody is right.
My Mom sang this song to me as a child, and I just searched up the lyrics so that I could sing it to my daughter. I really love this song. Thank you!
I sang this song in music class in elementary school! Have been looking for it for awhile and almost thought I had imagined it. Good to know I'm not alone in my memories!
We sang it in Indiana too!
Thank you!!! I searched for it. It has been in my head 40 years!!
Sang this song in music class 4th grade 1974 Scipio Elementary School, Indiana.
Thanks for bringing together people who sung "Orion" in elementary school! We sang it in Athens, Ohio.
Here are the lyrics we used for "Orion" by James Zimmerman
Orion is arising
You can see his stars ablazing
In the middle of a clear eyed country sky.
And it's never too surprising
That the sky is still amazing
Way out here where nothing hides it from my eyes.
And sleeping outside in a bag as a kid
It seems like the best thing that I ever did
And chasing the shadows
and the tracks in the snow
Don't you know?
The day is getting colder
and I really start to wonder
why they're clouding all the country skys to gray
The world is getting older
I can hear it in the thunder
and the rain may come and chase us all away!
And sleeping outside in a bag as a kid
It seems like the best thing that I ever did
And chasing the shadows
and the tracks in the snow
Don't you know?
The moon is on the wane
And it looks like it might rain
Or maybe snow.
And how are we to stay here
If there's no room left to play here
Or to grow
Don't you know? Don't you know?
Don't remember what year. Was born in 65, and it was fourth grade. York County Pennsylvania. We sang the song, but we learned it from a vinyl record played on a mono all-in-one player in class. I always thought it was John Denver when I was young, but I doubt it was. And yes- "and it's never too surprising that the sky is still amazing way out here where nothing hides it from my eyes."
I grew up in GA. This song along with Colors of the Rainbow (red and yellow and pink and green, purple and orange and blue...I can sing a rainbow, sing a rainbow, sing a rainbow too)are the ONLY songs I remember from elementary school. Thank you for posting the lyrics. I am over 50. I loved music day with the instruments being passed out and always wanting the maracas. Great memories :)
Thank you got such a memorable song!
I am a retired public school music teacher. Imagine my surprise when talking with a former student last night who told me how much she enjoyed music classes. She then asked if I remember “Orion is a’Risin!” It was her favorite song in 1976! She sang it last night for me and then I see this today! The rewards of teaching music go on and on…
This is my daughter's favorite song. She is learning to play the guitar and I have looked everywhere to find the chords for her. Can anyone help?
Thanks,
Nancy
I did too in 2006
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