“Was there music before the Grateful Dead?“ Oliver asked his dad,redwood forest activist Chad Swimmer. “And why are they grateful?”

I made up this song for the activists fighting to save the Jackson State Forest redwoods.
        "Grateful Dead Boogie" is one of six finalists in the English pFITE (Poetry and folk music for the environment) song contest. It's gotten European viewers (to whom an oak is a big tree) talking about coast redwoods and their central role in combatting global warming.

Between now and Monday April 17th you can vote for it. Should it win, Mendocino Youth for Climate will be awarded 500 pounds.



        Grateful Dead Boogie


“Was there music before the Grateful Dead?
And why are they grateful?” eight-year old Oliver said.
Up spoke Marianna, who was five.
“They are grateful they’re not still alive.”

They don’t have to see what’s going on
Everything they fought for, going or it’s gone
People scared to speak their mind, people scared to sing
Rich folks still stealing everything.

Why are those men chopping down the trees?
Do the redwoods have a tree disease?
Now they lie there rotting in the sun
I thought they belonged to everyone.

Someone’s getting paid, we understand
Cutting big old trees on public land
But we’re not scared to speak our mind, we’re not scared to sing
We won’t let the rich steal everything.

We’ll play music like the Grateful Dead
We will dance and boogie, Garnish said
We will help the redwoods trees to thrive
We are grateful we’re all still alive.