IN THE BIRCHWOOD (1989)
Lyrics to ALL 16 Songs
1. Waking Up
This boat sails like the morning
In through the dark of night
Parting the shadows with it's light
To every shore it touches
There comes a bright new day
And bit by bit the world is
Waking Up! Waking Up! Waking Up all over...
Waking Up! Waking Up! Waking Up all over... Waking Up!
This boat is kin to water
Kin to the wind that blows
Kin to the land where timber grows
Sailing away together
Each has a part to play
And bit by bit the world is
Waking Up! Waking Up! Waking Up all over...
Waking Up! Waking Up! Waking Up all over... Waking Up!
This boat we sail together
Our journey's just begun
Knowing we sink or sail as one
Listen! The winds are calling!
The wave of morning breaks
And bit by bit the world is
Waking Up! Waking Up! Waking Up all over...
Waking Up! Waking Up! Waking Up all over... Waking Up!
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2. The Woods Are Well
Under the leaves of the forest green
The bear and the bobcat lurk unseen
The owl gives a hoot as if to tell
Oh, the woods are well
Sturgeon swim with rainbow trout
A skunk and fox run about
Splash! An otter slipped and fell
Oh, the woods are well
From the prairie to the pine Summer turns to autumn
Through the marshland to the hills blows a bitter wind
And in the woods now deep and still Spring is not forgotten
Seasons must turn and turn again
The flight of the geese on the cold northwind
As deer in the thickets hide again
Mice and squirrel in a good oak dwell
Oh, the woods are well
And under the light of a silvery moon
There comes a cry from a lonesome loon
And the owl gives a hoot as if to tell
Oh, the woods are well
Oh, the woods are well
3. In The Birchwood
When you're young your body's nimble
Climbing trees is simple with or without branches
You can shimmy up a small one
Dangle from a tall one hardly taking chances
I was only seven
When I attempted heaven climbing up a birch tree
And the higher I ascended
The more gravity bent it's earthly will upon me
Now I want to be young enough to climb again
Write a letter to a long, lost friend
On a piece of snow white bark
From a tree grown tall and stark
In the Birchwood... In the Birchwood
In the Birchwood... In the Birchwood
A wise old poet's written
How his heart was smitten early in his boyhood
By the act of climbing higher
Up a spindly spire than a cautious soul should
I was just like he was
Doing just what he does through his white and black verse
Always giving my word:
"Mom, if I go skyward I'll come back down feet first..."
And I want to be young enough to climb again
Write a letter to a long, lost friend
On a piece of snow white bark
From a tree grown tall and stark
In the Birchwood... In the Birchwood
In the Birchwood... In the Birchwood
Leafing through my Robert Frost
Dreaming of the days I've lost
And finding in a dead man's rhyme
The me I left behind...
Lately when I'm walking
I hear mem'ry talking: "Come into the birchwood
Set aside your rhyming
Try your hand at climbing..." and I half believe I still could
I want to be young enough to climb again
Write a letter to a long, lost friend
On a piece of snow white bark
From a tree grown tall and stark
In the Birchwood... In the Birchwood
In the Birchwood... In the Birchwood
4. Groundwater Rag
Way down below the ground
where the water's found in the aquifer
There's been some changes come
and it's kind of dumb cause it once was pure
And our stupidity's catching up, you see,
and it sure is a drag
Drinking the Groundwater Rag
You see beneath the rock and the soil
we've got water down below
Our poison fills the ground and it filters down
where the waters flow
Till if you stop to think about what you drink
you might need a barf bag
Drinking the Groundwater Rag
You really ought to taste all the human waste and bacteria
Also the pesticide, cause for bona fide hysteria
Also the nitrogen can be lots of fun though it might make you gag
Drinking the Groundwater Rag
Why don't you drink, drink - turn the tap on the kitchen sink
And drink, drink - It's got no taste and got no stink
So drink, drink, drink, drink...
But we're drinking ourselves right over the brink!
There's waste industrial (if you aren't full) and there's radium
And if you're not sick they've got some toxic
chemicals - yum, yum, yum!
Oh, you'll just be amazed there's so many ways
that your fortunes can sag
Drinking the Groundwater Rag
Beneath the ground unseen tanks of gasoline are leaking
Sulphur from lead mine dregs like rotten eggs are reeking
Drink and there'll be a bad diarrhea outbreak and fingers will wag
Drinking the Groundwater Rag
Yes, we've been pumping and we've been dumping
much too carelessly
It may be cheaper but the Grim Reaper's coming for you and me
So let's all raise our glasses and toast the masses
who'll nag, nag, nag, nag
Till we clean up the Groundwater
(you know we all gotta)
Clean up the Groundwater Rag
5. Bones Of Man
Wisconsin
May your waters flow
Through the tall dark pines
Where the forest flowers grow
And may you teach us
Someday to understand
That it's you who are the Master
Of the flesh and bones of Man
Wisconsin
May your verdant hills
Always rise above the ages
And our mad desire to kill
And may you teach us
Someday to understand
That it's you who are the Master
Of the flesh and bones of Man
And it's you who bear the secret
Of the long, dark ages past
I think I'm just beginning
To see it now, at last...
So may you teach us
Someday to understand
That it's you who'll live forever
And absorb the bones of Man
Teach us
Someday to understand
That it's you who'll live forever
And absorb the bones of Man
6. Temperature Goes Down
In the Summertime you'd be out of your mind
Not to swim the whole day round
In a still green pool where the water is cool
And the temperature goes down
There's long canoes where the fishermen snooze
With another six pack downed
Just another way of passing the day
As the temperature goes down
Oh, when the fish are jumping in the rivers and the forest streams
You'll be out collecting summer mem'ries for Winter dreams
When the Autumn comes and the leaves are all done
In a patchwork on the ground
You bite your nails and you wait for the gales
As the temperature goes down
If time is lost it surely will cost
A shiver the winter ‘round
So you caulk the holes and you keep out the cold
As the temperature goes down
Oh, when the leaves are falling in the rivers and the forest streams
Soon you'll be recalling autumn color for Springtime dreams
You can bolt your doors as the fireplace roars
And you toast your friends in town
With a deck of cards and a beat up guitar
As the temperature goes down
You can wear your skates till the Winter grows late
And the ice makes crackling sounds
You can bet your friends when the Winter will end
Still, the temperature goes down
Oh, with the ice unbroken in the rivers and the forest streams
That's the time for stokin' winter fire for Summer dreams
And when the Spring has sprung and the robin has sung
The ice melts in the ground
You run outside, thinking Winter has died...
But then the temperature goes down
So if you're looking for a calendar
There are none to be found
‘Cause living here we measure the year
By the temperature going down
Though it may sound crazed we measure the days
By the temperature going down
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7. Peshtigo
There is a town called Peshtigo
A lumberjacking town of old
And here's a tale that's seldom heard
How the great Peshtigo fire occurred
In Autumn Eighteen Seventy One
The woods dried out from the summer sun
The lumberjacks all cursed in vain:
"Oh, Lord Almighty, will it never rain?
Oh, Oh Peshtigo... Oh, Oh how it burned
They tore the pine from nature's heart
Ignored the warning that a fire might start
Carelessly their brush fires burned
Waiting for the winds to turn
October Eighth dawned still as death
The north wind whispered not a breath
A yellow sky and a blood red sun
Seemed to warn what was to come
Oh, Oh Peshtigo... Oh, Oh how it burned
As darkness fell the treetops burned
Mighty winds upon them turned
A firestorm's roar was heard
When the great Peshtigo fire occurred
People ran for life and limb
But most were never seen again
Even rivers couldn't save
The ones doomed to a fiery grave
Oh, Oh Peshtigo... Oh, Oh how it burned
They jumped in waterwells to survive
But wound up being boiled alive
There wasn't any air to breathe
Wheree'er that devil fire seethed
A million acres and much more
Was burned down to the forest floor
Twelve Hundred people lost their lives
And a burning memory still survives
Oh, Oh Peshtigo... Oh, Oh how it burned
They say the logger's carelessness
Lit nature's fiery autumn dress
And burned the great northwoods that day
And sent twelve hundred to their graves
Finally, when the smoke had cleared
The skies looked down and shed their tears
Whispering o'er the black scar burned:
"Oh, Lord Almighty, will they never learn?"
Oh, Oh Peshtigo... Oh, Oh how it burned
8. Sugar Maple Time
When the bitter winter winds finally end
And the ice is cracking
A spirit in the wood awakes.... winter breaks
All the sugar maple trees feel a breeze
Warming toward the springtime
As the sap begins to flow deep below
Sugar Maple Time---meet me in the morning
Sugar Maple Time---don't be slow
Sugar Maple Time---frosty winds are warming... Oh!
Pulling on your dungarees sleepily
Boots and heavy stockings
Flannel shirt and stocking cap... smell the sap
Crunching snow is underfoot, and the woods
Seem as though they're watching...
Wondering what we're doing here, drawing near
Sugar Maple Time---meet me in the morning
Sugar Maple Time---don't be slow
Sugar Maple Time---frosty winds are warming... Oh!
When the sugar maple trees feel the breeze
Sap'll soon be rising
Time to get your bucket out, tap the spout
March'll make a maple's heart slowly start
Beating ancient rhythms
Sweetening up the world again, like a friend
Sugar Maple Time---meet me in the morning
Sugar Maple Time---don't be slow
Sugar Maple Time---frosty winds are warming... Oh!
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9. Talkin' Acid Rain Nightmare Blues
I'm gonna tell you 'bout a dream I had
Where the sweet rain went from good to bad
My dream took place in the U.S.A.
Where they had a rainstorm one dark day
Now, a rainstorm folks would usually say
Is no big deal, it happens every day
The sky opens up and the rain comes down
And the water runs through the streets in town
When it's over everybody's wet
The sun comes out and they all forget
They go about their lives just like before
And they never even think about the rain no more
But my friends, the rain in question
Was one that taught everybody a lesson
‘Cause when it was over, though it might sound strange
Everybody in the whole town had changed
There was rain falling from the sky
And there was more to that rain
Than meets the eye
People caught in the storm that day
Were seen by their neighbors in a different way
Some even screamed and ran on home
Like an episode out of the Twilight Zone
The Optometrist named Dr. McGee
Stuck his head out the window to have a look-see
But when he pulled his head back in
He realized he couldn't see nothin'
So he pulled his eyeglasses out of his pocket
And he put 'em in front of his eyeball sockets
But his sockets were empty to his dismay
‘Cause his eyeballs had all melted away
There was rain falling down below
And there was more to that rain than H2O
As Dr. McGee ran around in the dark
He heard some screaming from the park
A crowd of students were walking home
They got caught in the rain and drenched to the bone
The nice new clothes that they were wearing
All of a sudden started disappearing
And before you could've said lewd or crude
There they all were in the park in the nude
They were embarrassed and started screaming
As a young man lay on his front porch dreaming
About his beautiful head of hair
And how his girlfriends liked to run their fingers up there
He heard the screams and was upset
To wake and find his head all wet
So he grabbed a towel to dry his hair
And was shocked to find that it wasn't there
Well, that was the general scenario
Wherever folks in the town would go
After the falling of the rain
They found that their friends and neighbors had changed
Some of 'em didn't have any clothes
Others were missing their eyeballs or nose
And those who wandered around in bare feet
Left their toes floating down the street
And over at the nudist beach
That's where they heard the loudest screech
‘Cause when the rain was over, what it did to them
Was you couldn't tell a her from a him
Well, the rain cleared up and the clouds blew away
And folks in town didn't know what to say
In fact, those who caught raindrops on their tongues
Never said a word from that day on
But as I mentioned, the town in question
Learned a very valuable lesson
And one of them told me in a feeble voice
As I started to wake up,"We've got a choice:
We can make steel umbrellas...
We can learn to live with the pain...
We can watch the whole world dissolve
And run right down the drain...
Or---we can do away with the Acid Rain!
10. Spring And Fall
My Daddy used to tell me of a black bear in the big woods
A legend in my boyhood mind where woods loomed vast and tall
Profound beyond my wildest dreams... in uncounted shades of green
Somewhere in the shadows lurked a black bear... spring and fall.
We walked beneath the magic leaves that whispered in between
A sky that I could barely glimpse and mossy beds and walls
Red clay spring holes sucking down, deep fed from beneath the ground
And all around them lay the tracks where the black bear... spring and fall.
And walking down the sandy shores of Fish Creek's icy water
Cast me glancing nervously at shadows big and small
Listening as the waters lapped for a tell-tale twig to snap
And then I feared I'd see the black bear where the waters... spring and fall.
I never did. But late at night when lamps were done with burning
In our little cabin to my sleeping bag I'd crawl
And as my family's minds went out I still wrestled with my doubts
Beneath a roof and trees and stars that watched... the spring and fall
“Daddy!" I would whisper, before sleep took him completely
"Did you lock the door? I mean, in case a bear should call?"
"Hell," he'd say, half sleep, half snore, "Any bear that opens doors is welcome."
Then I'd hear him turn on rusty spring... and fall....
11. Superior
In the morning through the tall pine
Sunrise… I’m on my way
Where the rivers twist and wind
Take me back to yesterday
Through the memory of my childhood
I can picture what used to be:
Ice-blue water, flowers and wild wood
Are a part of the heart of me
Superior
I still dream of the way you were…
May dreams endure
Superior
Where the changes come too swiftly
Time and beauty slip away
Here your spirits always lift me
Wind and water, rock and clay
Superior
I still dream of the way you were…
May dreams endure
Superior
Wild island, thundering shoreline
Please resist what the times may bring
In the shadow of your tall pine
Let the wild heart always sing:
Superior
I still dream of the way you were…
May dreams endure
Superior
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12. Misha Sagie Gan
Mist lifts away from the blue of a distant time
When the great glacier withdrew in the sunlight
10,000 years is the ghost of the ice age
Whispering it’s memory still
With power and will
Waves, living water and wind
Mishi Sagie Gan, Lake Michigan
Whose were the wondering eyes that first took you in?
Humbled before your great size and power
Your wild waves embracing the shore like a lover
Beginning the long give and take
Between land and lake
Life both without and within
Mishi Sagie Gan, Lake Michigan
Around ancient fires
The Ojibway looked out upon
The gift of the ice
And the glaciers long gone
They gave you a name in their tongue
Mishi Sagie Gan
They gave you a name in their tongue
Mishi Sagie Gan
Your blue goes to green under whitecaps reflecting
The sky and the forests around
The hills and the towns
The colors of life in the wind
Mishi Sagie Gan, Lake Michigan
Oh, Mishi Sagie Gan, Lake Michigan
13. Make Sweet Love To You
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By the fire light
When the moon was bright
And the wind was still...
Did you hear that whippoorwill singin’?
And all its singin’ made me want to do
Was lay right down and make sweet love to you
By the ripplin’ stream,
We were swappin’ dreams
And you smiled at me... d
Did you hear that willow tree sighin’?
And all its sighin’ made me want to do
Was lay right down and make sweet love to you
Darlin’, was it the moonlight?
Or just some magic spell?
Was I dreamin’?
Oh, I still can’t tell...
But the night grew old,
And the fire grew cold
And you fell asleep
On my shoulder warm and deep.
And darlin’, all your dreamin’ made me want to do
Was lay right down and make sweet love to you
