You Gave Me A Mountain Karaoke - Gene Watson

"You Gave Me a Mountain" (sometimes "Lord, You Gave Me a Mountain") is a song written by country singer-songwriter Marty Robbins during the 1960s. It has been recorded by many artists, including Robbins himself, but the highest-charting version of the song was by Frankie Laine in 1969.

You Gave Me A Mountain Song Trivia

Robbins recorded a version of his song, and although it wasn't released as a single, it is included on his 1969 album, It's a Sin, as well as some of his "greatest hits" compilation albums. Country music singer Johnny Bush also recorded a version of this song in 1969, and his version reached #7 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart that year.

Also recording this song was Elvis Presley, who performed the song at his 1973 Honolulu concert Aloha from Hawaii and the subsequent live album Aloha from Hawaii: Via Satellite. Presley's version was included in many of his other releases throughout the 1970s.

The lyrics to the song detail a series of challenges that the singer has endured in his life, including the death of his mother while giving birth to him, a time spent in prison "for something that I never done" and the singer's wife taking their child and leaving.

He describes these setbacks as hills that he has scaled in the past, but then states that "this time, Lord, you gave me a mountain / A mountain you know I may never climb". The original third line of Robbins' song mentioned that he was "despised and disliked from my father", but Laine requested that this line be changed to "deprived of the love of my father" when he recorded his version, since Laine's father had died shortly before the recording took place.

Other artists who have recorded versions of "You Gave Me a Mountain" or performed it live include (Elvis), Don McLean, Eddy Arnold, Ray Price, Margie Singleton, Gene Watson, Jim Nabors, Dean Martin, Christer Sjögren, Victor Wood and Bobby Gonzales.

You Gave Me A Mountain Song Lyrics

Born in the heat of the desert
My mother died giving me life
Deprived of the love of a father
Blamed for the loss of his wife

You know Lord I've been in a prison
For something I've never done
It's been one hill after another
But I've climbed them all one by one

But this time you gave me a mountain
A mountain that I may never climb
And it isn't a hill any longer
You gave me a mountain this time

My woman got tired of the hardships
Tired of the grief and the strife
So tired of working for nothing
Tired of being my wife

She took my one ray of sunshine
She took my pride and my joy
She took my reason for living
Oh she took my small baby boy

So this time you gave me a mountain
A mountain that I may never climb
And it isn't a hill any longer
You gave me a mountain this time

You gave me a mountain...
This time...