(Stephen Stills) Intro. (Acoustic Guitar) Sometimes i consider my pace I'm reminded of a train Gathering speed for the climb to the pass In whose shadow it already lies a small metal dragon Approaching the ever-present ascending rise To the seventh mountain Reeling and snaking and leaping it seems Like it wants to come loose from its path cast in iron But she can't slow down now as the earth has presented A new crest to reach without barely a rest From the last one And you wonder just what lies beyond Though you've been there before And forget about the effort and the strain Always ascending each yard adds a mile To the never-ending pull of the steepening grade That's before you A valley a forest a desert a stream With an oversized bridge for the trickle there beneath You remember the torrent it turned to last spring From the snows melting fast and the river it became In the summer Perhaps it is ruined from a fire that has scorched it So badly that nothing will grow without rain To wash away the blackened soil Now useless till called upon again In a future as twisted and far away As the next range of mountains So take it as far as you see and beyond With eyes you don't use enough gather up strength As thoroughfare gap will await you forever You're seeking to get there for even before It's no matter No distance It's the ride