Here are the camp songs for 2023. Whenever possible, we’ve provided either audio or links to videos so you can learn the songs ahead of time if you want. We included a few of our own Ecojustice Camp songs, plus songs and singers representing a diversity of voices, including BIPOC songwriters.
There are way too many songs to learn them all. Younger campers will enjoy some of these songs more, and older campers may prefer others. Learn the ones you like best. (Lyrics are provided here for educational purposes; copyright remains with copyright holders.)
THE ADAPTATION SONG
Dan Harper / Ecojustice Camp (2017)
1. I’m an otter, I’m an otter, I am a Sea Otter,
Swim among the kelp and hunt sea urchins underwater,
I use rocks as tools to open up my shellfish fodder,
I’m an otter, I’m an otter, I am a Sea Otter.
Chorus: Animals adapt to their environments
So they can meet all of life’s requirements.
What they eat and where they live and when they take a nap:
There are many ways that animals adapt.
2. I’m a fox, I’m a fox, I am a Gray Fox,
Make my den in caves or trees or in among rocks,
I am good at climbing trees and balancing on logs,
I’m a fox, I’m a fox, I am a Gray Fox.
3. I’m a falcon, I’m a falcon, I’m a Peregrine Falcon,
I’m the fastest animal, I hunt with my sharp talons,
I’m the one maintaining pigeon population balance,
I’m a falcon, I’m a falcon, I’m a Peregrine Falcon.
ALL GOD’S CRITTERS GOT A PLACE IN THE CHOIR
Bill Staines
1. Listen to the bass, it’s the one in the bottom
Where the bullfrog croaks and the hippopotamus
Moans and groans with a big to-do, and the old cow just goes moo.
Dogs and cats, they take up the middle,
Where the honeybee hums and the crickets fiddle,
The donkey brays and the pony neighs, the old coyote howls.
Chorus: All God’s critters got a place in the choir,
Some sing low, and some sing higher,
Some sing out loud on the telephone wire,
And some just clap their hands or paws, or anything they got, now.
2. Listen to the top where the little birds sing,
On the melody with their high notes ringing,
The hoot owl hollers over everything, the jay bird disagrees.
Singing in the night time, singing in the day,
The little duck quacks and is on his way,
The possum ain’t got much to say, the porcupine talks to himself.
3. It’s a simple song of living and it’s sung everywhere,
By the ox and the fox and the grizzly bear,
The grumpy alligator and the hawk above, the sly raccoon, and the turtle dove.
Here are Annie Patterson and Peter Blood singing this song.
ARAGON MILL
Si Kahn
1. At the east end of town, at the foot of the hill,
Stands a chimney so tall that says Aragon Mill.
But there’s no smoke at all coming out of the stack,
The mill has shut down, and it ain’t coming back.
Chorus: And the only tune I hear
Is the sound of the wind
As it blows through the town,
Weave and spin, weave and spin.
2. Now I’m too old to change, and I’m too young to die,
And there’s no place to go for my old man and I.
There’s no children at all in the narrow empty streets
Now the looms have all gone, it’s so quiet I can’t sleep.
3. Now the mill has shut down, it’s the only life I know,
Tell me where will I go, tell me where will I go.
Here’s social justice activist Si Kahn singing this song. “Aragon Mill” has been adopted by people around the world, any place where mills closed and people lost their jobs. In Ireland, they sing “Belfast Mill,” calling it an old Irish song — here’s Rachel Hillary singing the Irish version.
BALLAD OF ADOBE CREEK
Dan Harper / Ecojustice Camp
1. ’Twas in Ohlone people’s time
Adobe Creek flowed free;
With willow trees its banks were lined,
A pretty sight to see.
Chorus: Oh, from Black Mountain, to the bay,
Lit by the golden sun,
Adobe Creek flows gently down,
Long may its waters run.
2. When European invaders came
Their thirsty cattle drank
The cooling waters, and then grazed
Along the grassy banks.
3. Then farmers planted fields so green
Beneath the sun so bright,
And all their crops grew like a dream:
A land of heart’s delight.
4. Soon houses spread along the creek,
But came a dreadful flood;
Its banks were lined with with grey concrete:
No more the living mud.
5. Down from the peaks where Live Oaks grow,
Past houses and highways:
For fourteen miles the waters flow
Until they reach the bay.
BIG YELLOW TAXI
Joni Mitchell
1. They paved paradise,
Put up a parking lot
With a pink hotel,
A boutique, and a swinging hot spot
Chorus: Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone
They paved paradise, put up a parking lot.
2. They took all the trees,
Put ’em in a tree museum.
And they charged all the people
A dollar and a half just to see ’em.
3. Hey farmer, farmer,
Put away that DDT, now.
Give me spots on my apples
But leave me the birds and the bees (please!)
4. Late last night,
I heard the screen door slam.
And a big yellow taxi
Took away my old man.
Here’s a great performance by Yola.
BRANCHING OUT
John Gorka
1. When I grow up, I want to be a tree,
Want to make my home with the birds and the bees
And the squirrels — they can count on me,
When I grow up, I’m going to be a tree.
Chorus: I’m going to reach, I’m going to reach,
I’m going to reach, reach for the sky.
I’m going to reach, I’m going to reach,
I’m going to reach till I know why.
2. I’ll let my joints get stiff, root my feet in the ground,
Take the winters off, and settle down,
I’ll keep my clothes till they turn brown,
When I grow up, I’m going to settle down.
3. When the spring comes by, I’m going to get real green,
When my flowers come out, I’ll be a bumble-bee’s dream,
On windy days, I’ll bend and lean,
When I grow up, I’m going to get real green.
4. If I should fall in storm or slumber,
Please don’t turn me into lumber.
I’d rather be a hollow nest
Where birds and mammals can take their rest.
CALIFORNIA COUNTRY ROADS
Ecojustice Camp, based on the song by John Denver
1. Almost heaven, California,
SantaCruz Mountains, San Lorenzo River,
Life is old there, older than the trees,
Younger than the mountains, growing like a breeze.
Chorus: Country roads, take me home,
To the place I belong:
California, in the mountains,
Take me home, country roads.
2. All my memories gather round them,
Tie-dye lover, surfer in blue waters,
Cool and foggy, clearing to blue skies,
Misty shapes of redwoods, teardrops in my eyes,
3. I hear a voice, in the morning hours it calls me,
Radio reminds me of my home far away,
Driving down the road
I get a feeling that I should have been home
Yesterday, yesterday.
This song is sung around the world. Here’s Nishida Hikaaru singing Country Roads. And lots of people have adapted this song to where they live, just as we’ve done. Here’s the great Israel Kamakawiwoʻole singing about country roads in Hawai’i.
CARRY IT ON
Buffy Sainte-Marie (2015)
1. Hold your head up, lift the top of your mind,
Put your eyes on the Earth, lift your heart to your own home planet.
What do you see? What is your attitude?
Are you here to improve or damn it?
Look right now, and you will see we’re only
Here by the skin of our teeth as it is,
So take heart, and take care of your link with Life, and
Oh, carry it on. We’re saying:
Oh, carry it on, keep playing,
Oh, carry it on, and praying,
Oh, carry it on.
2. It ain’t money that makes the world go round,
That’s only temporary confusion,
It ain’t governments that make the people strong,
That’s an opposite illusion,
Look right now, and you will see they’re only
Here by the skin of their teeth as it is,
So take heart, and take care of your link with Life, and
Oh, carry it on. Keep saying:
Oh, carry it on, and playing,
Oh, carry it on, and praying,
Oh, carry it on.
Look right now, and you will see we’re only
Here by the skin of our teeth as it is,
So take heart, and take care of your link with Life …
3. … is beautiful if you’ve got the sense
To take care of your source of perfection —
Mother Nature, She’s the daughter of God
And the source of all protection,
Look right now, and you will see she’s only
Here by the skin of her teeth as it is,
So take heart, and take care of your link with Life.
Oh, carry it on. Keep saying:
Oh, carry it on, and playing,
Oh, carry it on, and praying,
Oh, carry it on.
Here’s Buffy’s music video of this song.
CIRCLE OF THE SUN
Sally Rogers
1. Babies are born in the circle of the sun,
Circle of the sun on their birthing day.
Clouds to the north, clouds to the south,
Wind and rain to the east and west…
2. I want to be married on my wedding day….
3. I want to be buried on my dying day….
Here’s Sally Rogers singing the song (we skip some of her verses).
CEILITO LINDO
Traditional
1. De la sierra morena
Cielito lindo vienen bajando
Un par de ojitos negros
Cielito lindo de contrabando
Chorus: Ay, ay, ay, ay canta y no llores
Por que cantando se alegran
Cielito lindo los corazones
2. Ese lunar que tienes
Cielito lindo junto a la boca
no se lo des a nadie
Cielito lindo que a mi me toca
Here’s a recording with the lyrics.
COUNTRY LIFE
Traditional English
Chorus: Oh I like to rise when the sun she rises, early in the morning
And I like to hear them small birds singing, merrily upon the lay land
And hurrah for the life of a country boy, and to ramble in the new mown hay.
1. In the spring we sow in the harvest mow
And that’s how the seasons round they go
But of all the times if choose I may
It’s to ramble in the new mown hay.
2. In the winter when the sky is gray
We hedge and we ditch our time away
But in the summer when the sun shines gay
We go rambling in the new mown hay.
Here’s Folly Bridge singing Country Life.
DE COLORES
Traditional
1. De colores, de colores se visten los campos en la primavera
De colores, de colores son los pajaritos que vienen de afuera
De colores, de colores es el arco iris que vemos lucir
Chorus: Y por eso los grandes amores de muchos colores
Me gustan a mi y por eso los grandes amores
De muchos colores me gustan a mi
2. Canta el gallo con el quiri quiri quiri quiri quiri
La gallina, la gallina con el cara cara cara cara cara
Los polluelos/pollitos con el pio pio pio pio pi
Here’s José-Luis Orozo singing this song.
DOWN BY THE BAY
Anonymous
Down by the bay, where the watermelon grow,
Back to my home, I dare not go,
For if I do, my mother would say:
Did you ever see a ——-
Down by the bay!
Here’s a recording with Raffi Cavoukian, in a video with scrolling lyrics.
There are LOTS more verses, pick some you like to bring to camp:
an ant, eat an elephant?
a beagle, flying with the seagulls?
a bear, combing his hair?
a bee, with a sunburnt knee?
a beetle, threading a needle?
a bunny, eating milk and honey?
a cat, swing a baseball bat?
a chicken, do some guitar pickin’?
a chimp, flying in a blimp?
a cockatoo, playing a kazoo?
a cow, with a green eyebrow?
a crab, drive a taxicab?
a deer, throwing a spear?
a dog, dancing with a frog?
a dragonfly, eating an apple pie?
a duck, in a pickup truck?
an eagle, married to a beagle?
a fish, do a hula in a dish?
a fly, wearing a tie?
a fox, hiding in a box?
a frog, hopping on a dog?
a giraffe, who really made you laugh?
a goat, in a ferry boat?
a goose, kissing a moose?
a hawk, knitting a sock?
a hog, going out to jog?
a horse, on a golf course?
a kangaroo, tying her shoe?
a lizard, dressed for a blizzard?
a llama, wearing striped pajamas?
a lobster, shooting at a mobster?
a loon, in a hot air balloon?
a mink, at the skating rink?
a moose, drinking apple juice?
a mouse, build a great big house?
a mule, swimming in a pool?
an octopus, who liked to swear and cuss?
an owl, drying on a towel?
a pig, dancing a jig?
a platypus, drive a shuttle bus?
a rat, with a great big hat?
a seal, on a ferris wheel?
a sheep, driving a jeep?
a slug, give a bug a hug?
a snail, with a dinner pail?
a snake, baking a cake?
a spider, drinking apple cider?
a turkey, who liked to eat beef jerky?
a whale, with a polka-dotted tail?
a wombat, marching off to combat?
a yak, doing jumping jacks?
ENERGY FROM THE SUN
Dan Harper / Ecojustice Camp (2021)
1. Energy from the sun flows through us all,
All of earth’s life-forms, both great ones and small.
2. Light, plus 6 H2O, plus CO2,
Makes C6H12O6 plus O2.
3. Plants take in water plus carbon dioxide,
From them make oxygen, and carbohydrates.
4. Energy links us to all life on earth,
We’re in earth’s energy flow from our birth.
EVERY LIVING THING (THE INTERDEPENDENCE SONG)
Dan Harper / Ecojustice Camp (2017)
1. Red-tailed Hawks like to eat Shrew-Moles when they can,
Shrew-Moles eat earthworms, it’s on their menu plan,
Earthworms eat compost, and have since time began.
Chorus: Every living thing needs another living thing to survive.
Every living thing needs another living thing to survive,
Living things depend on other living things to stay alive.
2. Foxes eat rabbits and other herbivores,
Rabbits eat grasses and fruits and lots of forbs,
Plants make their own food from sun and soil and chlorophyll.
3. Mountain Lions hunt Raccoons, and Seals, so they say,
But when they die, then it’s their turn to be prey,
Vultures and microbes eat dead things, helping them decay.
GARBAGE
Bill Steele
1. Mister Thompson calls the waiter, orders steak and baked potato
Then he leaves the bone and gristle and he never eats the skins;
The busboy comes and takes it, with a cough contaminates it,
And puts it in a can with coffee grinds and sardine tins.
The truck comes by on Friday and carts it all away,
And a thousand trucks just like it are converging on the Bay, oh—
Garbage (garbage, garbage, garbage), Garbage (garbage, garbage)
We’re filling up the sea with garbage,
What will we do when there’s no place left to put all the garbage?
2. Mr. Thompson starts his Cadillac and winds it down the freeway track
Leaving friends and neighbors in a hydrocarbon haze,
He’s joined by lots of smaller cars all belching gases to the stars.
There they form a seething cloud that hangs for thirty days,
And the sun licks down into it with an ultraviolet tongue,
Till it turns to smog and settles down and ends up in our lungs, oh—
Garbage (garbage, garbage, garbage), Garbage (garbage, garbage)
We’re filling up the sky with garbage
What will we do When there’s nothing left to breathe but garbage?
3. Getting home & taking off his shoes he settles down with the evening news,
While the kids do homework with the TV in one ear;
& Superman for the thousandth time sells talking dolls and conquers crime,
Dutifully they learn the date of birth of Paul Revere,
In the paper there’s a piece about the mayor’s middle name,
And he gets it done in time to watch the Allstar Bingo Game, oh—
Garbage (garbage, garbage, garbage), Garbage (garbage, garbage)
We’re filling up our minds with garbage
What will we do when there’s nothing left to read?
And there’s nothing left to need; and there’s nothing left to watch;
And there’s nothing left to touch; and there’s nothing left to walk upon;
And there’s nothing left to talk upon; and nothing left to see;
And there’s nothing left to be — but garbage!
Here’s a recording by ecojustice elder Pete Seeger.
THE GARDEN SONG
David Mallet
Chorus: Inch by inch, row by row,
Gonna make this garden grow,
All it takes is a rake and a hoe,
And a piece of fertile ground.
Inch by inch, row by row,
Someone bless these seeds I sow,
Someone warm them from below,
Till the rains come tumbling down.
1. Pulling weeds and picking stones,
We are made from dreams and bones,
Feel the need to grow my own
’Cause the time is close at hand.
Grain for grain, sun and rain,
Find my way in nature’s chain,
To my body and my brain,
To the music from the land.
2. Plant your rows straight and long,
Temper them with prayer and song,
Mother Earth can make you strong,
If you give her love and care.
Old crow watch ing hungrily,
From his perch in yonder tree,
In my garden I’m as free
As that feathered thief up there.
Here’s a video of this song with kids dancing in a garden, kinda weird but nice.
GET ON BOARD
Traditional African American
Chorus: Get on board, everybody,
Get on board, everybody,
Get on board, everybody,
There’s room for many-a more.
1. The freedom train is coming,
I hear it just at hand,
I hear them car wheels moving,
And rumbling through the land.
2. I see that train a-coming,
A-coming round the curve,
She’s loosened all her steam and brakes,
And straining every nerve.
3. The fare is cheap and all can go,
The rich and poor are there,
No second class aboard this train,
No difference in the fare.
4. It rolls across the trestle,
It spans the Jordan’s tide,
It pulls into the depot,
That’s where this train will ride.
Here’s a recording with the great Paul Robeson. We use the lyrics from the Civil Rights movement, so we sing about the “freedom train.”
THE HAMMER SONG
Lee Hayes and Pete Seeger
1. If I had a hammer, I’d hammer in the morning,
I’d hammer in the evening, all over this land,
I’d hammer out danger, I’d hammer out warning,
I’d hammer out a love between my brothers and my sisters,
All over this land.
2. If I had a bell, I’d ring it in the morning,
I’d ring it in the evening, all over this land,
I’d ring out danger, I’d ring out warning,
I’d ring out a love between my brothers and my sisters,
All over this land.
3. If I had a song, I’d sing it in the morning,
I’d sing it in the evening all over this land,
I’d sing out danger, I’d sing out warning,
I’d sing out a love between my brothers and my sisters,
All over this land.
4. Well, I’ve got a hammer, and I got a bell
And I’ve got a song to sing all over this land,
It’s the hammer of justice, it’s the bell of freedom,
It’s a song about a love between my brothers and my sisters,
All over this land.
Here’s a video of Trini Lopez doing his version of this classic song.
HEAD, SHOULDERS, KNEES, AND TOES
Anonymous
1. Head, shoulders, knees, and toes…
And eyes and ears and mouth and nose…
2. Head, gills, and fins, and tail…
And eyes and ears and mouth and scales…
3. Head, talons, wings, and beak…
And eyes and ears and neck and cheek…
4. Gray Foxes verse coming soon….
I LOVE THE MOUNTAINS
Anonymous
I love the mountains, I love the rolling hills,
I love the flowers, I love the daffodils,
I love the fireside when all the lights are low,
Boom-dee-ah-da, boom-dee-ah-da, boom-dee-ah-da, boom-dee-ah-da.
MICHAEL ROW THE BOAT ASHORE
Traditional African American
Michael, row the boat ashore, hallelujah,
Michael, row the boat ashore, hallelujah.
1. River Jordan is deep and wide, hallelujah,
Milk and honey on the other side, hallelujah.
2. Won’t you help to trim the sail, hallelujah,
Won’t you help to trim the sail, hallelujah.
3. Michael’s boat a music boat, hallelujah,
MIchael’s boat a music boat, hallelujah.
Here’s Joe and Eddie singing Michael Row the Boat Ashore. They sing somewhat different words than we do.
ROLL THE OLD CHARIOT ALONG
Traditional African American sea chantey
Chorus: Roll the old chariot along,
Roll the old chariot along,
Roll the old chariot along,
And we’ll all hang on behind.
1. And a plate of Irish stew wouldn’t do us any harm,
And a plate of Irish stew wouldn’t do us any harm
And a plate of Irish stew wouldn’t do us any harm,
And we’ll all hang on behind.
2. A nice watch below wouldn’t do us any harm…
3. A night on the shore wouldn’t do us any harm…
5. If the captain’s in our way, we’ll roll right over him…
We learned this at the monthly sea chantey sing-along at the San Francisco Maritime National Park. There are LOTS of bad video versions of this chantey out there, but here’s a good one: A really short version from Mystic Seaport.
SWIMMING TO THE OTHER SIDE
Pat Humphries
1. I’m alone and I am searching,
Hungering for answers in my time,
I am balanc’d at the brink of wisdom,
I’m impatient to receive a sign,
I move forward with my senses open,
Imperfection will be my crime,
In humility I will listen,
We’re all Swimming to the Other Side.
Chorus: We are living ’neath the Great Big Dipper,
We are washed by the very same rain,
We are swimming in the stream together,
Some in power and some in pain,
We can worship the ground we walk on,
Cherishing the beings that we live beside,
Loving spirits will live forever,
We’re all Swimming to the Other Side.
2. On this journey through thoughts and feelings,
Binding intuition, my head, my heart,
I am gathering the tools together,
I’m preparing to do my part,
All of those who have come before me,
Band together to be my guide,
Loving lessons that I will follow,
We’re all Swimming to the Other Side.
3. When we get there we’ll discover,
All of the gifts we’ve been given to share,
Have been with us since life’s beginning,
And we never noticed they were there,
We can balance at the brink of wisdom,
Never recognizing that we’ve arrived,
Loving spirits will live forever,
We’re all Swimming to the Other Side.
Here’s a video with Pat Humphries singing this song.
Words to the harmony part (by Lui Collins):
We are living, we are dwelling,
In a grand and awesome time,
We can worship, we can cherish,
All the ones we live beside.
SWING LOW, SWEET CHARIOT
Wallace and Minerva Willis, c. 1840
Chorus: Swing low, sweet chariot, coming for to carry me home [2 times]
1. I looked over Jordan, & what did I see, a band of angels coming after me
2. I’m sometimes up & sometimes down, but still my soul is freedom bound
3. If you get there before I do, tell all my friends I’m coming too
The immortal Fisk Jubilee Singers performing this song a hundred years ago. Wallace and Minerva Willis were enslaved by a Choctaw who lived in Oklahoma. They taught this song to someone who then taught it to the Fisk Jubilee Singers, who made it famous. This song was probably an Underground Railroad song, so “Jordan” would have been the Red River in Oklahoma (or other rivers in other parts of the South), and “angels” would have been conductors on the Underground Railroad.
THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND
Woody Guthrie (the original 1940 words)
Chorus: This land is your land, this land is my land,
From California, to the New York Island,
From the redwood forest, to the Gulf Stream waters:
This land was made for you and me.
1. As I was walking that ribbon of highway
I saw above me that endless skyway,
I saw below me that golden valley:
This land was made for you and me.
2. I roamed and rambled and followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts,
And all around me a voice was calling:
This land was made for you and me.
3. When the sun was shining and I was strolling
And the wheat fields waving, and the dust clouds rolling,
As the fog was lifting a voice was chanting:
This land was made for you and me.
4. One bright sunny morning in the shadow of the steeple
By the Relief Office I saw my people,
As they stood hungry, I stood there wondering if
This land was made for you and me.
The Native American verse:
5. You say it’s your land, but it once was our land,
From Alaskan tundra to Florida’s islands,
You forced our Nations onto reservations,
This land was stolen by you from me.
First, check out this recording: Boston Children’s Chorus tells you why this is an ecojustice song — we sing the song a little differently at camp, but this is a good recording.
Now here’s Woody Guthrie singing this song about how this land belongs to all of us. (Although a lot of First Nations and indigenous people would say that it’s not quite that simple, which is why we now include the Native American verse above.)
THROW IT OUT THE WINDOW
Anonymous
1. Old Mother Hubbard, she went to her cupboard
Fetched her poor dog a bone,
But when she got there, the cupboard was bare,
So she threw it out the window,
The window, the second story window,
When she got there, the cupboard was bare,
So she threw it out the window.
2. Little Jack Horner sat in a corner
Eating a Christmas pie,
He stuck in his thumb and pulled out a plum
He threw it out the window,
The window, the second story window,
He stuck in his thumb and pulled out a plum,
And he threw it out the window.
You can fit just about any nursery rhyme inot this song. Like this:
Old King Cole was a merry old soul,
A merry old soul was he,
He called for his pipe and he called for his bowl,
And he threw them out the window.
Mary, Mary, quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells and cockle shells,
And I threw it out the window.
WADE IN THE WATER
Traditional African American
Wade in the water, wade in the water, children,
Wade in the water, god’s gonna trouble the water.
1. Jordan River is deep and wide (Wade in the water)
Milk and honey on the other side (God’s gonna trouble the water)
2. Well, who’s that coming, all dressed in white?
It looks like the children who are fighting for their rights.
3. And who’s that yonder, all dressed in black?…
They come a long way, and they ain’t turning back….
4. Now see that band, all dressed in blue….
Must be the children that made it through….
Here’s Sweet Honey in the Rock with an amazing a capella performance of “Wade in the Water”. This was probably another Underground Railroad song. Sweet Honey sings the more traditional lyrics, while at camp we sing the updated lyrics from the Civil Rights movement.
WATER
Bob Reid
1. Water, water, everywhere and not a drop to spare
Water in the ground, water in the air
Though it may evaporate it never goes away
It snows on top the mountain, melts and flows into the bay.
Chorus: Animals need water, people need it too
Keep it clean for me and I’ll keep it clean for you [2 times]
2. Now you can take a shower in it, you can wash your hair,
You can wash your clothes or wash your teddy bear,
Really clean water is getting kinda rare,
If we want to keep it, people have to care.
3. Now water is rain, water’s a flood,
Water turns dirt into mud,
Sometime water’s blue, sometimes water’s green,
Sometimes water’s dirty and sometimes water’s clean.
4. Now they say the ocean’s filling up with stuff like DDT,
It shows up in the fish and then in you and me,
If we drink too much of it we’ll wind up in bed,
If we drink enough of it we may wind up dead.
Bob Reid & the U.N. Childen’s Choir singing “Water” at the United Nations.
TAN OAK
Walden West
Chorus:
Tan Oak, Tan Oak (clap twice)
Oooh, baby let your xylem flow (wooooo!)
Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah
Tan Oak, Tan Oak (clap twice)
Oooh, baby let your xylem flow (HUA!)
Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah…The xylem’s under the bark where it’s cool and dark
It takes the wet from the ground and it spreads it around
1. It’s the oak that’s tan and it gives us a hand
It’s where the natives go to get the acorns that grow
2. The acorn’s hat is bristly and fat
And the squirrels think it’s neat to get an acorn treat
3. It’s an evergreen and it’s the best that I’ve seen
So put your hands in the air and show that you care
Here’s a recording.
Ecojustice Camp 