There Is a Mountain

"There Is a Mountain" is a song and single written and performed by British singer-songwriter Donovan,^[1] released in 1967.

Background[]

The lyrics refer to a Buddhist saying originally formulated by Qingyuan Weixin, later translated by D.T. Suzuki in his Essays in Zen Buddhism, one of the first books to popularize Buddhism in Europe and the US. Qingyuan writes

Before I had studied Chan (Zen) for thirty years, I saw mountains as mountains, and rivers as rivers. When I arrived at a more intimate knowledge, I came to the point where I saw that mountains are not mountains, and rivers are not rivers. But now that I have got its very substance I am at rest. For it's just that I see mountains once again as mountains, and rivers once again as rivers.^[2]

Featured musicians are Donovan (vocals and acoustic guitar), on percussion, Harold McNair on flute and arrangement and Danny Thompson on bass. The B-side of the single is "Sand and Foam", an acoustic album cut about a nighttime visit to a Mexican beach Donovan took while on vacation. It was drawn from Mellow Yellow, which was released a few months prior to "There is a Mountain".

Chart performance[]

It charted in the UK at No. 8^[3] It charted in the USA at No. 11 on Billboard's Hot 100^[4] and at No. 9 on the Cashbox chart.

Cover versions[]

• Kenny Loggins covered the tune in 2009 with his youngest daughter Hana on his album All Join In.
• Dandy Livingstone covered the song in 1967.
• The Bobs covered the song in 1994 for their album .
• Steve Earle Covered the song on many of the dates on his 2015 "Terraplane" World Tour. Most notably at HSBF in San Francisco and in Donovan's home city of Glasgow on Oct 27th 2015.
• The Long Beach Dub Allstars featuring Wailing Souls covered the song.
• "Mountain Jam" on The Allman Brothers Band 1972 album Eat A Peach includes the "There Is A Mountain" theme and gives credit to Donovan.

Influences[]

• The Allman Brothers Band's "Mountain Jam" (from Eat a Peach, 1972) is a long, improvised jam song based on this song. The Grateful Dead also sometimes incorporated it.

References[]

External links[]

• There Is a Mountain (Single) - Donovan Unofficial Site