WHY I AM, WHO I AM

WHILE RESTING ON A BIG BROWN BOULDER ONE DAY
SURROUNDED BY TREES OF CEDAR AND PINE
I WAS LOOKING UP THROUGH A CLOUDY SKY
AND I THOUGHT OF THIS OLD LIFE OF MINE

HOW DID IT COME THAT I’M SO BLESSED
WAS IT JUST LUCK THAT PUT ME HERE
AMONGST THESE VALLEY’S THAT I LOVE
WITH MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY SO NEAR

WHY WAS I BORN IN THIS FREE COUNTRY
AND NOT SOME THIRD WORLD STATE
WHERE THERE’S LITTLE FOOD OR WATER
AND FOLKS THERE ARE GOVERNED BY PURE HATE

HOW WAS I BORN A MORMON
I NEVER HAD TO SEARCH OUT FOR THE TRUTH
I WAS TAUGHT THE GOSPEL IN MY HOME
FROM MY VERY YOUTH

I THOUGHT, MAYBE I AM SPECIAL
AND I DESERVED THIS BLESSED LIFE
BUT I DON’T RECALL THIS SIDE OF THE VEIL
ANYTIME I’VE SACRIFICED

SO IN MY MIND I STARTED TO BACKTRACK
TO REMEMBER SOME GREAT THING I’D DONE
I TRACKED CLEAR BACK TO MY CHILDHOOD
AND I COULDN’T THINK OF ONE

SO I BACKED UP A LITTLE FURTHER
TO MY GREAT GRANDAD, WILLIAM LAMB
AND THERE IT FINALLY CAME TO MIND
WHY I AM, WHO I AM

HE MOVED HIS FAMILY FROM TUBA CITY
IN 1905 HE LANDED HERE
AND HIS FAMILY HAS CALLED THIS VALLEY HOME
SINCE THAT EARLY YEAR

HIS GRANDAD ABLE CAME FROM NEW YORK STATE
WHERE HE WAS BAPTIZED BY JOSEPH SMITH SR., IN “33"
HE FOUGHT THE MOBS AND CROSSED THE PLAINS
AND STAYED AS DILIGENT AS HE COULD BE

I HAD TWO GRANDADS WHO FOUGHT IN THE REVOLUTION
AND SENT THE BRITS BACK ACROSS THE SEA
ONE GRANDDAD DIED AT BUNKER HILL
AND THAT’S WHY I CAN BE FREE

THAT’S WHY I AM, WHO I AM
AND WHY I’M BLESSED TODAY
IT WAS NEVER NOTHING THAT I DID
IT WAS MY ANCESTOR’S WHO PAVED THE WAY

THEY ARE THE ONES IN WHICH I OWE
A VERY GRACIOUS DEBT
AND I HOPE SOMEDAY TO THANK THEM
BUT I’M NOT QUIT READY TO DO SO YET

WE ALL HAVE OUR OWN FAMILY PIONEERS
WHO THROUGH THEIR SACRIFICE HAS HAD TO PAY
FOR EACH OF US TO BE WHO WE ARE
AND WHY WE ARE HERE TODAY