Sixteen Lanes Of Highway

I once had a swamp when I was younger
 The ducks and geese would pass in the fall and spring
 Bulrushes sighed and the frogs would roar like thunder
 In the evening you could hear the blackbirds sing
 And to the east, rose a briar hill above me
 And we'd sit up there and watch the clouds roll by
 We didn't know that we'd be saying so long
 To the frogs and the birds and the dragonflies
 Now paradise is 16 lanes of highway
 And the peace is gone and the cars roll by each day
 And the house in which I grew now affords a lonely view
 It overlooks a 16 lane highway
 And the tractors came and the trucks and the heavy graders
 And in a month, they tore that swamp apart
 And they left an ugly scar while we stood watching
 For a progress a mind of planner's work of art
 And the people that I knew all started moving
 And the houses store there empty row on row
 And the ones that didn't take the easy money
 Were later sold out short and forced to go
 Now the city's gone on by to take some more land
 And the ducks and geese ain't been around for years
 And the kids who come of age in those apartments
 Will never understand my bitter tears
 They'll never see a thing that wasn't put there
 They'll never see a wild thing growing free
 And they'll never know a quiet day of living
 God help all the kids but please help me