"Oh, Garden Wild©"
Lyrics by M.S. McKenzie | Performed by American Storyteller Music & is Protected by Copyright
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"Oh Garden Wild"
[Intro]
Beyond the turnpike’s smoggy veins
There’s a wilder side that still remains
Where rivers carve and pine trees sway
Jersey’s heart still beats to this day
[Verse 1]
At Delaware Gap, where waterfalls roar
Down ancient cliffs to the forest floor
Hawks rise high on invisible currents
And forested trails bring transference
[Chorus]
Oh Garden wild, where your rivers run free
From shaded hills to the pine barrens’ sea
You shelter a strength that cities can’t find
The true soul of New Jersey, wild and kind
[Verse 2]
In Pine Barrens primeval, ancient cedars rise
While maples and birch trees paint autumn skies
Urban legends drift up when campfires burn
Of ghosts and headless riders who still return
[Verse 3]
Ramapo hills rise high in the morning haze
Still bear the footprints from native days
History whispers through the stone and the pine
A secret land, out of place and out of time
[Bridge]
Not every corner is paved over in asphalt and steel
Some corners are quiet, and some are quite real
It’s in your forested hills where the truth is shown
A sacred place where Jersey stands by roots alone
[Verse 4]
Over the Watchung ridges and streams untamed
Through the Highlands proud and forever named
You’re never forgotten, you’re never confined
Your wild song runs free through all of time
[Chorus]
Oh Garden wild, where your rivers run free
From shaded hills to the pine barrens’ sea
You shelter a strength that cities can’t find
The true soul of New Jersey, wild and kind
[Chorus]
Oh Garden wild, where your rivers run free
From shaded hills to the pine barrens’ sea
You shelter a strength that cities can’t find
The true soul of New Jersey, wild and kind
Song Description
“Oh Garden Wild” is a poetic tribute to New Jersey’s wilder interior — a land of rivers, ridges, and ancient forests often overshadowed by the state’s urban image. From the roaring waterfalls of the Delaware Water Gap to the deep Pine Barrens and their legends, the song paints the northeast interior as a place of mystery, resilience, and natural beauty. Hawks circling over cliffs, cedar swamps glowing in autumn light, and the Ramapo hills in morning haze bring this hidden landscape to life.
The chorus is reverent, lifting up the “true soul of New Jersey, wild and kind,” a reminder that beyond highways and skylines lies a sacred geography where history, myth, and nature meet. The bridge underscores this theme, contrasting steel and asphalt with the quiet truths found in untouched woods and streams. Carried by an earthy, reflective folk arrangement, “Oh Garden Wild” invites the listener to rediscover the Garden State as a land not just of commerce and cityscapes, but of enduring wilderness and untamed spirit.
