"There Is a Mountain" is a song written and performed by British singer-songwriter Donovan in 1967.[1]
Background
The lyrics refer to a Buddhist saying originally formulated by Qingyuan Weixin, later translated by D. T. Suzuki in his Essays in Zen Buddhism, one of the first books to popularize Buddhism in Europe and the US:[2]
Before a man studies Zen, to him mountains are mountains and waters are waters; after he gets an insight into the truth of Zen through the instruction of a good master, mountains to him are not mountains and waters are not waters; but after this when he really attains to the abode of rest, mountains are once more mountains and waters are waters.[3]
Featured musicians are Donovan (vocals and acoustic guitar), Tony Carr on percussion, Harold McNair on flute and arrangement and Danny Thompson on bass.
The B-side of the single is "Sand and Foam", an acoustic album cut about a nighttime visit to a Mexican beach Donovan took while on vacation. It was drawn from Mellow Yellow, which was released a few months prior to "There is a Mountain".
Record World described it as "jazzy" and "Latin-styled" with "weird" lyrics.[4]
Chart performance
In the UK, "There Is a Mountain" spent 11 weeks on the charts and peaked at No. 8.[5]
The Bobs covered the song in 1994 for their album The Bobs Cover the Songs of….
Steve Earle Covered the song on many of the dates on his 2015 Terraplane World Tour, most notably at HSBF in San Francisco and in Donovan's home city of Glasgow on Oct 27th 2015.
Wailing Souls covered the song on their album Psychedelic Souls.
