Have you been to the Cumberland Gap oh no
Fix your eyes on the green of the map oh no
Where the Appalachians rise oh no
Oh no

Have you tasted the finest of trout oh no
Half-asleep in a log-burning house oh no
With your feet flopping over the couch oh no
Oh no

Like Mighty Joe Moon there is no controlling him
Drive off a bridge if he choose to swim
Mighty Joe Moon can't prevent what is heaven sent
Joe can't control where his money goes
He's Mighty Joe

Have you been to the Cumberland Gap oh no
The air is sweeter than oranges now oh no
Oh no

And Mighty Joe Moon there is no controlling him
Drive off a bridge if he choose to swim
Mighty Joe Moon can't prevent what is heaven sent
Joe can't control where his money goes
He's Mighty Joe


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Mighty Joe Moon Lyrics as written by

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Mighty Joe Moon song meanings
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  • +1
    General Comment

    I have been to the Cumberland Gap, and the air is sweeter than oranges. This song is about where I live and the people who live there and it is quite right,

    ABookOnAShelfon April 12, 2009   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    "There was a fella named Joe Moon who was this wild renegade truck driver who was hanging around the studio when we were recording in San Francisco Back in 1992, and he used to hang around and tell us stories. He would collect all of Paul's bass strings and all my guitar strings and then tell us what songs those strings were written on. He was very detail-oriented. A real character. So we sorta called him Mighty Joe Moon, 'cause his name was Joe Moon. He was a sorta product of the sixties when folks had such great names like Moon and Sun and Sunflower. And that's definitely where the name came from. The character is larger than that though. The character is mostly an embodiment of so much else and mostly a figment of my imagination." Source: Things Grant Always What They Seem, Rave Magazine, December 1994

    gareth1031on September 28, 2017   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I love the sound of this song! It's definitely an alltime favorite of mine, although I don't really get the lyrics. I don't know who Mighty Joe is, but maybe he's that free spirited, independent natureboy Grant is longing to be? Maybe it's a song about going back to basics, and ridding all modern nessecities? At least that's the feeling the song conveys to me.

    For some reason I think of Jack Kerouac and his novel "The Road", when I listen to these lyrics. It has the same romantisized vision of the American wilderness.

    Fantastic song no matter what. Strangely G.L.B. hasn't been commented that much, which I guess proves how much of an underrated songwriter he is. In Denmark where I live, hardly anybody knows him or his music.

    disonanton September 17, 2008   Link

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