A SONG THAT WHISPERS “WE MUST BEGIN” IN THE FACE OF OUR OWN FORGOTTEN PURPOSE
In “RHYMES AND REASONS,” by John Denver—from his 1969 debut major-label studio album Rhymes & Reasons—we encounter a moment of quiet urgency. The album itself was issued in October 1969 on RCA Victor. While this particular track did not chart as a single, the album marked Denver’s first commercial studio release, anchoring his voice in the folk-rock era and laying the groundwork for his later chart success.
From the opening line—“So you speak to me of sadness and the coming of the winter, the fear that is within you now that seems to never end”—Denver invites us into a shared vulnerability. In that sentence, he acknowledges the winter of the self: the dreams departed, the hope forgotten, the fear that lingers. Yet he pivots quickly to possibility: “And it’s you who cannot accept it is here we must begin / to seek the wisdom of the children and the graceful way of flowers in the wind.” Here becomes the locus of transformation.
Denver’s lyric isn’t packaged as a comfort song but rather a “we-muststart” song—a low voice that calls us back to fundamentals: innocence, nature, shared humanity. He draws the children and the flowers into the frame not simply as metaphors but as guides—their laughter, their trust, their unshackled simplicity become the antidote to the “cities crumble[ing]” and “towers fall[ing] around us.” In doing so, the song moves beyond personal introspection and into the realm of collective redemption. It is a plea to stand “by the hand and by the heart,” forging from fragility a bridge toward freedom.
Musically, the arrangement mirrors this emotional architecture. A gently resolute guitar, subtle orchestration, and Denver’s earnest vocal deliver the song with a sincerity that undercuts grandiosity. In a period when folk-rock could still lean toward sweeping declarations, Denver keeps it grounded—this is not a manifesto but a conversation. The nuance in his phrasing—“you tell me that you need me now and you want to be my friend—/ and you wonder where we’re going, where’s the rhyme and where’s the reason?”—carries the weight of a listener’s confession to a friend who responds not with answers but with a guiding hand.
Culturally, the song stands as a significant early marker in Denver’s career: though the album did not immediately yield major chart hits, it captured the artist’s emerging voice—a voice entwined with environmental awareness, human longing, and the search for meaning in simplicity. While the album’s track list ranged widely—from political satire to tender balladry—“RHYMES AND REASONS” remains emblematic of Denver’s belief that music could serve as a grounding force.
In the end, the song leaves us with one abiding truth: that when we ask “where’s the rhyme and where’s the reason?” the answer is not found in escaping the winter, but in returning to the wisdom of children and the quiet strength of nature—those seemingly fragile forces that carry a promise of renewal. It’s a message both modest and profound, and in Denver’s voice it remains a gift: the invitation to begin, right here, right now.