1. |
This Old Earth
03:40
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This Old Earth
By Bob Zentz ©1974 Folk Legacy Records, BMI)
Fragments of another sunset,
Ashes of another dawn,
Drowned in time’s immortal ocean,
All too soon it could be gone
This old earth has seen a lot of living,
This old earth, the stories she could tell,
This old earth is finished with the giving
This old earth we’ve used so well
Now the playground stands deserted,
In the yellow afternoon
And the cotton-candy children,
Have all gone home too soon
And the tree of knowledge trembles,
For the fruit was ours before
Will we be like Eden’s lovers,
Driven from the garden door.
What will it take from Nature,
And what must it take from Man,
For the future generations
To save the sky, the sea, the land,
This old earth has seen a lot of living,
This old earth, the stories she could tell,
This old earth is finished with the giving
This old earth we’ve used so well
So ask your child what really matters,
Ask your friends what they will do,
Ask the leaders you’ve elected (ask them!)
But the answer lies with you,
This old earth has seen a lot of living,
This old earth, we’ve used from end to end,
This old earth is finished with the giving
This old earth could use a friend.
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2. |
Give Yourself to Love
03:38
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Give Yourself to Love
By Kate Wolf © 1982 Another Sundown Publishing co. BMI
(Last verse by Shirl Lawrence)
Kind friends all gathered 'round, there's something I would say:
That what brings us together here has blessed us all today.
Love has made a circle that holds us all inside.
Where strangers are as family, loneliness can't hide.
So give yourself to love if love is what you're after;
Open up your hearts to the tears and laughter
And give yourself to love, give yourself to love.
I've walked these mountains in the rain and learned to love the wind;
I've been up before the sunrise to watch the day begin.
I've always knew I'd find you, though I never did know how;
Like sunshine on a cloudy day stand before me now.
So give yourself to love if love is what you're after;
Open up your hearts to the tears and laughter
And give yourself to love, give yourself to love.
Love is born in fire; it's planted like a seed.
Love can't give you everything, but it gives you what you need.
And love comes when you're ready, love comes when you're afraid;
It'll be your greatest teacher, the best friend you have made.
So give yourself to love if love is what you're after;
Open up your hearts to the tears and laughter
And give yourself to love, give yourself to love.
Two can start a chain of love together, hand in hand
Peace and understanding will reign throughout the land
Joy will come to others who take the time to care
And the love will grow collectively with more for us to share
So give yourself to love if love is what you're after;
Open up your hearts to the tears and laughter
And give yourself to love, give yourself to love.
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3. |
Hudson River Breeze
04:21
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Hudson River Breeze
© 2003 by Steve B. Kaplan
I worked all the day, looking out the window,
Watching how the wind was blowing wildly through the trees
As I sang to myself, I knew that I must go
And sail tonight on that Hudson River breeze
Chorus:
Being on this river always makes my spirits rise
Sailing on the Woody Guthrie cuts my troubles down to size
Thanks to the captain, and my hat's off to the crew
Who came to volunteer tonight to sail this boat for you
We come from many walks of life: a housewife and a plumber,
Teenaged students, engineers, and token “yuppies”, too
We work and argue winter long, readying for summer
The sailing season tends to smooth our different points of view
First we raise the mains’l up, then we have to sweat it
When it's good and tight, we haul up and back the jib
Then the wind turns the boat around, the captain yells “Let's set it!”
And the jib gets kicked across into that Hudson River breeze
Spoken:
“Ready about!?! Helms a’lee! Slack that starboard topping lift!
Anyone want to take a turn at the helm?”
It wasn't many years ago, a potter and a plumber
Built this old-time wooden sloop and named it for a friend
They saw the river running foul, it really couldn't get much sicker
Now it's running clearer, and we're sailing 'round the bend
It could be fifty years from now, many sloops will sail this river
Each one based upon a sloop club, nestled in the trees
It could be we can do the jobs of really cleaning up this river
And bringing out the public to that Hudson River breeze
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4. |
The Lilac and the Apple
02:56
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The Lilac and the Apple
by Kate Wolf © 1977-82 Another Sundown Publishing Co.
A Lilac bush and an Apple tree
Were standing in the woods,
Out on the hill above the town,
Where once a farmhouse stood.
In the winter the leaves are bare
And no one sees the signs
Of a house that stood and a garden that grew
And life in another time.
One Spring when the buds can bursting forth
And grass grew on the land,
The Lilac spoke to the Apple tree
As only a good friend can.
Do you think, said the Lilac, this might be the year
When someone will build here once more?
Here by the cellar, still open and deep,
There's room for new walls and a floor.
Oh, no, said the Apple, there are so few
Who come here on the mountain this way,
And when they do, they don't often see
Why we're growing here, so far away.
A long time ago we were planted by hands
That worked in the mines and the mills,
When the country was young and the people who came
Built their homes in the hills.
But now there are cities, the roads have come,
And no one lives here today.
And the only signs of the farms in the hills
Are the things not carried away.
Broken dishes, piles of boards,
A tin plate, an old leather shoe.
And an Apple tree still bending down,
And a Lilac where a garden once grew.
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5. |
Shoulder to Shoulder
04:27
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Shoulder to Shoulder
© 2003 by Steve B. Kaplan
It's corporation policy
Not to care too much 'bout you and me,
They keep their eyes trained on that bottom line
They can dump their poisons without fear,
Just as long as profits rise this year
And then pretend that everything is fine
Chorus: Shoulder to shoulder, if we stand together
We can make a difference in this world
Shoulder to shoulder, we must act together
Working for the future of this world
The Generous Electric Company
Filled the mighty Hudson with PCBs,
Should they be allowed to get away?
New York State just let them walk
Now the E.P.A. is about to balk
We have to raise our voices up today --> Chorus
Waste from this society
Is dumped with impropriety
Or burned to belch forth smoking from some stack
Despite the fact that there are many ways
Better methods that have gained high praise
They choose to dump where poor folks can't fight back --> Chorus
This system thrives on our division
While we fight, they make decisions
This fighting helps to keep us all in chains
We have to show respect for each other
Work together, sister, brother
With our hands our hearts and with our brains --> Chorus
I see people building parks
On cleaned-up dumps and vacant lots
Cleaning up their valleys and their streams
Environmental action troops
Made of every available ethnic group
Folks who're not afraid to live their dreams --> Chorus
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6. |
Living Planet
03:17
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If all the world were peaceful now, and forever more
Peaceful at the surface, and peaceful at the core
All the joy within my heart would be so free to soar
And we're living on a living planet, circling a living star
I don't know where we're going, but I know we're going far
We can change the universe by being who we are
And we're living on a living planet, circling a living star...
If all the world knew justice now, and forever more
Justice at the surface, and justice at the core
All the joy within my heart would be so free to soar
And we're living on a living planet, circling a living star...
I don't know where we're going, but I know we're going far
We can change the universe by being who we are
And we're living on a living planet, circling a living star...
If all the world knew freedom now, and forever more
Freedom at the surface, and freedom at the core
All the joy within my heart would be so free to soar
And we're living on a living planet, circling a living star...
I don't know where we're going, but I know we're going far
We can change the universe by being who we are
And we're living on a living planet
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7. |
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That Old Banjo
© 2003 by Steve B. Kaplan
That old banjo’s slim and long
It can play a breakdown, back up a song
It’s fought for rights, seen many a wrong
That banjo’s stood its ground
That old banjo travels well
Its owner rings it just like a bell
It sings for freedom’s truth to tell
You can’t mistake its sound
Chorus:
This machine … surrounds hate
And forces it to surrender
It sings right out its not too late
To play just one more song
Come and sing together!
That old banjo stands up tall
It can hurl an idea over a wall
It can reach those who can’t see at all
Where others fear to tread
That old banjo’s magic sound
Has lifted hearts the whole world ’round
Its message can be clearly found
In the words etched ’round its head --> Chorus
That old banjo boldly leads
It spreads its notes like apple seeds
They flower tall among the weeds
Shining brightly in the sun
That old banjo’s led a crowd
Of joyful people singing out loud
This banjo can be awfully proud
Of the good work it has done --> Chorus
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Great Blue Estes Park, Colorado
Shirl Lawrence & Steve Kaplan (a/k/a Great Blue) have been making music for more than 3 decades. Their beautifully crafted harmonies have been heard at coffeehouses in the Hudson Valley. They now reside on the Front Range in Colorado, where they deliver songs to warm the heart and feed the soul. They named themselves “Great Blue” after the observant heron they often find during their kayak trips. ... more
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