Behind the Song
This song started life about a different subject — all I kept was the first stanza in the first verse.
The original song was written in the first person and a little more autobiographical. It was about feeling let down by failure and consequently failing to get going again. But I felt I’ve covered this ground already; I wanted to try something different.
So I set out to write about the life of a man, from boyhood to old age, as he faces the demands of different seasons. Each one with its own opportunities and burdens. Just like each season of the earth.

Lyrics
He was roaring like a rocket giddy, heaven-bound when the first frost of failure sent him crashing to the ground. Now he paces in the courtyard staring at the sky watching all the young birds fly by. Spring blooms into summer heat summer fades to ice winter melts and the rivers flood every season pays a price. He shouldered many burdens worked his fingers raw he labored in the winter to be ready for the thaw. Now he reaps his harvest brews beer from the grain but he leaves the feasting early to wander in the rain. Spring blooms into summer heat summer fades to ice winter melts and the rivers flood every season pays a price. He was such a bright boy but he dimmed along the way but now he finds as the night falls that's when stars come out to play His hair turned white as cotton he lost his iron grip so he traded in his plow-horse for passage on a ship. Now he learns to read the water how to smell a storm he takes his meals in the open a little sunburn keeps him warm. Spring blooms into summer heat summer fades to ice winter melts and the rivers flood every season pays a price.