Eric and Jacki Anderson

"Mr. Ware," by Eric Anderson, presents the story of a visionary farmer who in 1876 began
replanting areas of his farm that had been harvested for logs. Music style: folk

Way back when Columbus came
Trees were here but they weren't the same
'Cause they grew and they grew and grew, then they grew some more.
And no one cared to cut them down
Anywhere they looked they were all around
And that's the way it was so long ago

More people came to Wisconsin then
Cities grew on the river's bend
And the cities grew and they grew, then they grew some more.
They needed wood for the homes and stores.
Didn't take long, they were out of boards
'Til someone said, "How 'bout them trees?"

So they grabbed their axes and grabbed their saws
And turned those giants in to logs,
And they floated them down the rivers to the sawmill man.
Well, all the cutting it didn't take long.
Any good forest was going or gone
And a state full of stumps is an ugly thing.
Up in Hancock, the land was bare
But also a man named Walter Ware
Sitting on a stump saying, "This ain't cool."
So he put little trees on a horse-drawn wagon
Working each day 'til his feet were draggin'
Planting little tress in the open fields.

CHORUS: Mr. Ware, you were there planting trees for us
And they sure got big from a little twig.
It's nice when people care, Mr. Ware.

Now you can't make a forest in a second flat
and old Mr. Ware was aware of that.
It takes a lot of rain and sun and long, long time.
But he thought ahead for you and me
and the things that we might want to see
He's a friend of mine I've never met.

(CHORUS repeated)

Now squirrels climb and birds can nest,
and insects do what they do best,
and we can watch the world as it once was then.
The sun works hard to reach each limb
The trees are monuments to him.
And they grew and they grew and they're growing still.

(CHORUS repeated)

And they grew and they grew and they're growing still.
And they grew and they grew and they're growing still.