I heard John Denver sing this song live and I believe it was capo-ed up 4 frets.  
This can also be fingerpicked
by using these chord shapes.


           


CAPO 3

       D              A            G             D
So you speak to me of sadness, the coming of the winter,

Bm           F#m            G              A
fear that is within you now seems to never end.

        D                A                    G
And the dreams that have escaped you, and the hope that

       D          Bm                   D            A
you've forgotten, you tell me that you need me now, you

                              G        
want to be my friend, and you wonder where we're going

            D                  A                Bm
where's the rhyme, where's the reason, and it's you 

       D             A
cannot accept, it is here we must begin to seek the 

Em                              D        A      G
wisdom of the children, and the graceful way of flowers

       A              D                A     
in the wind.  For the children and the flowers are my

G              D               Bm
sisters and my brothers, their laughter and their

F#m              G              A              D
loveliness would clear a cloudy day.  Like the music

       A                  G             D
of the mountains, and the colors of the rainbow, they're

  Bm             D             A            D        Em    A
a promise of the future, and a blessing for today.

           D              A                G
Though the city starts to crumble, and the towers fall

D              Bm            F#m             G
around us, the sun is slowly fading and it's colder

         A           D                A
than the sea.  It is written from the desert to the

G                    D        Bm              D
mountains they shall lead us, by the hand and by the

                A                             G
heart they will comfort you and me.  In their innocence

                        D              A
and trusting, they will teach us to be free.  For the

D                A              G              D
children and the flowers are my sisters and my brothers,

      Bm                 F#m              G
their laughter and their loveliness would clear a cloudy

A             D              A            G
day.  And the song that I am singing is a prayer for 

    D          Bm             D                 A
non-believers, come and stand beside us, we can find

         D         Em      A       D
a better way.