Dana Lyons can be found here.
The first time I heard this song, Dana Lyons was singing it at the Peace Camp in the Summer of '93. Hippies dancing in a clearcut under a big round Grandmother Moon, and a 15 minute group hug and "OOOOMMMMMMMMM!" at the end. Smiles.
That summer, local Indigenous people, settlers, and then, as news of the blockades went international, people from all over the world came to join us to prevent the clearcutting of the ancient forests of Clayoquot Sound. The Friends of Clayoquot Sound oversaw the movement, and ran the Peace Camp, in what, at the time, became the single biggest incidence of civil disobedience in Canada.
In the end, after 932 arrests, with 856 charged, the logging company withdrew, the forests were not logged, and the area was declared a biosphere reserve. (We are losing too many trees now to development, and have been working for years towards a tree protection bylaw. But that is another story.)
Some of the most passionate hours and days of my life were spent standing on the road for the trees, watching the big trucks roll in, and the police carrying arrestees, one after the other, to police vans to cries and cheers and full-hearted songs of blockaders.
So, this song means a great deal to me. I tear up when I hear "a time when all the creatures shared the earth." I love the "magic" of hearing the tree speaking, feeling the love.
I heard it again in late September when Dana gave us a free concert on the village green here in Tofino. I reminded him of that night at the Peace Camp - what a memory, glowing forever in my heart. As is this latest concert.
What feels magical to you? The way children turn into sprites in the forest? The way fog wisps among the trees? Have you had an encounter with a being from the animal or bird world? Has there been a time when the wild spoke to you?
There is so much beauty and magic everywhere, when we look around.
Feel free to write whatever feelings or thoughts arise in you on hearing this song.
Have fun! Link your response and please visit others in the spirit of community.
