On the first day of winter I was set to leave   With the lost awe of true love in my eye   The wild frontier outlaws and thieves   To find me a mountain in the sky      There's gold in them hills I heard the man cry   There's gold in them hills for the taking   It's a one-way ticket down a river of lies   There's gold in them hills if you make it      On the last day of spring I first saw the sea   A poor boy with good luck on my side   Ready for riches, I rolled up my sleeve   And took my first step down my life      Had my wallet, same old pocket   Sixteen dollars, brand new shoes   Empty bottles, sad turned daughters   What's a country boy to do      Tell dear mother that I miss her   But things are different now there's nothing I can do   Your dark haired son is now long gone   Remember me when you stare at the moon      Broken my heart, diamonds and gold   Through scandal, through madness, through cold   All I have left is this gray in my beard   This mountain and the stories that I've told      There's gold in them hills I heard the man cry   There's gold in them hills for the taking   It's a one-way ticket down a river of lies   There's gold in them hills if you make it      There's gold in them hills   There's gold in them hills   There's gold in them hills if you make it