Intro: Two squares issued us a warning.
It was our pleasure to ignore it.
We’ve got that positive reinforcement.
And I’ve got a thirst for just one exceptional drink.

1. When your inert self climbs something of its own accord
It’s not such a bad thing to pack a reward
To enjoy at the top with the view and the crisp air.
Why not pause and sip a little bit of fizzy bliss there?
We’re always almost overrun, it’s all been pretty overdone
So yeah, we tend to overstate the obstacles we overcome.
So I am not saying we deserve an ovation
But the summit pop exists for this exact occasion.
Untold tons of rock under my cheap sneakers.
Maybe for a moment we forget we’re such weak creatures.
Maybe we forget the blisters, weary legs, and damaged joints
When we taste the summit pop at this vantage point.
I grip its cap and I give it a twist.
While I dance on the edge of the cliff: frivolous risk.
And if I lose my balance and I plummet to my death,
I will do it with the smell of the summit on my breath.

Chorus: From our common complaints to our routine stress,
The everyday pops that we drink mean less.
And I know this path will climb again
And there will be a summit pop waiting at the end.
From the effort to the pressure to the burdens we bore,
The pops that we drink on the summit mean more.
And I know this pride will fade away.
I’ll save a pop for another summit some day.

2. Don’t let your youthful mistake be too much caution.
Daylight burns while you discuss options.
I don’t need special pants, poles, or the rain gear.
I won’t know I did it unless I’m in some pain here.
Since the trailhead I’ve been eating like a pauper,
Picking at the bread-wad, washing it down with water.
So when I gain the summit and there’s no more elevation,
I’ll renounce hydration, it’s time for celebration.
I can’t recall the tips I may or may have not heard,
But the thought of the summit pop drives me onward.
My lungs are on fire and my knees are nearly buckling,
But now I’ve seen a little more than nothing.
And even if the naysayers are not impressed,
It tastes like triumph, it tastes like conquest.
Not too bad for a dollar and a few cents.
In a perfect world I’d still be doing this.

Chorus

3. And the summit pop is not restricted to the mountain peak.
It’s out of sight in the distance or it’s just out of reach.
But it’s there every time I surmount something significant.
One bottle, how does so much vindication fit in it?
Find it at the end of chores you find laborious,
In war if you’re victorious, glorious performances.
Sick of being prey, you turn the tables on the hunter.
When you get the girl or maybe save it till you dump her.
When the flaws in your project feel perfect.
When you finish your memoir, or maybe when you burn it.
When the concept was beyond you but you learned it.
Break out the summit pop and pop it open, you earned it.
Whether scaling fourteeners, literal or otherwise,
It makes that achievement just come alive.
You can have a pop while at ease in luxury,
But one pop on the summit’s worth a dozen drunk comfortably.

Chorus (2x)