Lyr Req: songs about trees...

Subject: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees...
From: GUEST,guest
Date: 06 Jan 09 - 11:17 AM

Looking for lyrics of songs about trees for a project we're working on here at school... any thoughts?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees...
From: Suegorgeous
Date: 06 Jan 09 - 11:30 AM

The Easter tree (Dave Goulder) - may be a bit too gory though!

Low down in the broom (if you could include shrubs!)

Holly and the ivy

The ash grove

Oak, ash and thorn


If you put the tree names into the Lyrics & Knowledge (DT) search above, you'll come up with loads..

Subject: Lyr Add: TREES (Joyce Kilmer)
From: open mike
Date: 06 Jan 09 - 12:56 PM

i would add to that advice...this site has an extensive lyric database.
If you type "tree" into the search box you will get dozens of songs.

Joyce Kilmer..a poem called Tree, which may have been made into a song

    I think that I shall never see
    A poem lovely as a tree.

    A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
    Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;

    A tree that looks at God all day,
    And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

    A tree that may in summer wear
    A nest of robins in her hair;

    Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
    Who intimately lives with rain.

    Poems are made by fools like me,
    But only God can make a tree.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees...
From: open mike
Date: 06 Jan 09 - 12:59 PM

Bury me beneath the Willow, under the weeping willow tree...

also look for an interesting one called the Lambeth Children,
which is about some kids who sat in trees to keep them from
being cut down.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees...
From: Anne Lister
Date: 06 Jan 09 - 01:14 PM

I've got a song called The Trees in the Woodland which goes through the seasons and connects what the trees are up to with our own moods and feelings ... if it sounds the sort of thing you might like contact me via my website and I'll send you an mp3.

Anne
www.annelister.com

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees...
From: SINSULL
Date: 06 Jan 09 - 01:17 PM

In the search box above, enter TREE and select the DT. A huge list of tree songs.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees...
From: bubblyrat
Date: 06 Jan 09 - 01:24 PM

"The buzzing of the bees
and the Lemonade trees.......""

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees...
From: GUEST,Puck
Date: 06 Jan 09 - 01:30 PM

I have a CD by Ashley Hutchins and Judy Dunlop called 'Sway with me'. All songs are about trees...maybe worth checking out.....
P.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees...
From: Beer
Date: 06 Jan 09 - 01:31 PM

No time to look right now but if you check out Gordon Lightfoot's web site you will find a number of songs related to trees.
Beer (adrien)
P.S. KNOTTY PINE is one.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees...
From: bubblyrat
Date: 06 Jan 09 - 01:37 PM

Seriously, though ;
                  "Home,Boys,Home !" features not one but three, viz the Oak,and the Ash,and the bonny Rowan tree.
          Then there's "Under The Spreading Chestnut Tree " ( complete with hand -movements)
    And the calypsoesque "Underneath the Lemon Tree, My Honey and me .."etc.
    And we should not forget Brian MacNeil's "My Bonny Yew Tree ", nor ,indeed, the official march-past / song of the Royal Navy "Hearts of Oak".

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees...
From: Leadfingers
Date: 06 Jan 09 - 01:37 PM

Further to Joyce Kilmer's excellent poem (Thanks Laurel) Ogden Nash has a very good Four Liner !

                   I think that I shall never see            
                   A BillBoard lovely as a tree
                   In fact , unless the billboards fall
                   I'll never see a tree at all .

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees...
From: bubblyrat
Date: 06 Jan 09 - 01:39 PM

Yes "Beer" , of course !!
            Laurel & Hardy !! ...."On The Trail Of The Lonesome Pine "..!!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees...
From: GUEST,TJ in San Diego
Date: 06 Jan 09 - 04:03 PM

"I Talk To The Trees," from Lerner and Loewe's 1951 musical, "Paint Your Wagon." I am not referring to the feeble rendition of same in the movie version as sung? by Clint Eastwood.

Below is a list compiled by a blog on MSNBC:

The inspiring nature of trees
Trees are essential to life. Aside from their beauty and the shade they provide, trees promote biodiversity and help to combat some of Australia's most serious environmental issues, such as loss of habitat for native bird and animal species. Trees are such an integral part of our lives that many people have written books, poems and even songs about trees.

The list below contains some of the Messenger team's favourite songs about trees with an interesting fact you may not know to go with each one.

'Tall Trees' – Crowded House
Fun fact: The California Coast Redwood is the tallest tree species in the world.

'Apple Tree' – Wolfmother
Fun fact: the apple tree originated in an area between the Caspian and the Black Sea.

'Home Among the Gum Trees' – John Williamson
Fun fact: there are more than 700 eucalyptus (gum tree) species, some of which are still to be named.

'Tree Hugger' - Kimya Dawson
Fun fact: Conservationists have often used the practice of "tree sitting" as an attempt to stop much-loved trees from being cut down.

'Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree' - Marion Sinclair
Fun fact: kookaburras are a large bird native to Australia and New Guinea with a distinct "cackling" bird call. They are related to the Kingfisher.

'Rip Rip Woodchip' – John Williamson
Fun fact: human beings have been making paper for more than 2000 years.

'Black Horse and the Cherry Tree' – KT Tunstall
Fun fact: in Australia the NSW town of Young is famous nationwide as the "cherry capital of Australia", and also hosts the internationally famous National Cherry Festival.

'Feed the Tree' – Belly
Fun fact: trees actually create their own food. They take the energy from the sun and convert this into glucose, which trees then feed on. During this process trees actually create the oxygen that we need to survive.

'Flame Trees' – Cold Chisel
Fun fact: the Illawarra Flame Tree is native to the east coast of Australia and is famous for its beautiful red bell-shaped flowers, which were traditionally eaten by Indigenous Australians.

'Cootamundra Wattle' – John Williamson
Fun fact: the Cootamundra Wattle is native to New South Wales. It has been planted all over Australia, however, and in parts of Victoria is actually considered a weed as it competes for survival with native varieties.

'Knock on Wood' – Eddie Floyd
Fun fact: the idea of "knocking on wood" to protect oneself from bad luck has ancient origins. It is believed that it is a pagan tradition aimed at warding off evil spirits.

'One Tree Hill' – U2
Fun fact: one mature tree can release enough oxygen into the atmosphere in one year to support two people.

'Fake Plastic Trees' – Radiohead
Fun fact: many conservationists argue that using a plastic Christmas tree is actually better for the environment as it can be reused, whereas real trees are cut down and then die within weeks.

'Willow Weep for Me' – Nina Simone
Fun fact: the tree species known as the "Weeping Willow" is the result of cross-pollination between two other tree species, the Chinese Peking Willow and the European White Willow.

'Cactus Tree' – Joni Mitchell
Fun fact: Arizona, in the United States, is home to the largest species of cactus in the world.

'Fruit Tree' – Nick Drake
Fun fact: all trees that flower technically produce "fruit", but we only use the word in association with trees that produce fruit that we can eat.

'A Thousand Trees' – Stereophonics
Fun fact: Redwood National Park in the United States boasts almost 40,000 acres of old-growth forest featuring thousands of Coastal Redwoods, the largest species of tree in the world.

'Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree' – The Andrews Sisters
Fun fact: a newly planted apple tree will take eight to 10 years to bear fruit.

'Hairy Trees' – Goldfrapp
Fun fact: many species of tree have hair-like growths on their leaves and buds. These are called trichomes. Trichomes can be a temporary or permanent fixture on a tree.

Subject: Lyr Add: TREES (Rush)
From: GUEST,Rtim.cookieless
Date: 06 Jan 09 - 04:12 PM

The Trees Lyrics
by Rush
There is unrest in the forest
There is trouble with the trees
For the maples want more sunlight
And the oaks ignore their pleas

The trouble with the maples
(And they're quite convinced they're right)
They say the oaks are just too lofty
And they grab up all the light

But the oaks can't help their feelings
If they like the way they're made
And they wonder why the maples
Can't be happy in their shade

There is trouble in the forest
And the creatures all have fled
As the maples scream 'Oppression!'
And the oaks just shake their heads

So the maples formed a union
And demanded equal rights
'The oaks are just too greedy
We will make them give us light'

Now there's no more oak oppression
For they passed a noble law
And the trees are all kept equal
By hatchet, axe and saw

Words - Neil Peart
Music - Geddy Lee & Lifeson
ÒHemispheresÓ - 1978

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees...
From: JohnB
Date: 06 Jan 09 - 04:15 PM

Linden Lea
JohnB

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees...
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 06 Jan 09 - 04:32 PM

BRANCHING OUT by John Gorka is a quirky favorite of mine. "When I grow up I'm gonna be a tree...."

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees...
From: GUEST,Tinker from Chicago
Date: 06 Jan 09 - 04:39 PM

There's a lovely old Christmas carol called "Jesus Christ the Apple Tree." And, of course, "O Tannenbaum" and Will Holt's "Lemon Tree".

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees..
From: Artful Codger
Date: 06 Jan 09 - 04:42 PM

Songs "about" trees is a tall order, since, well, they aren't the most active little buggers unless they fall on your house, so mostly they appear either symbolically or as sites of more cogent happenings.

"'Tis Autumn" by Bob Durough: "The trees say they're tired, they've borne too much fruit..."
"Lemon Tree": Trini Lopez standard
"Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree"
"The Liberty Tree"
"Barbara Allen": In the end, aren't she and her would-be lover turned into trees (or bushes)?
"O Tannenbaum" / "O Christmas Tree"
"Indian Love Call": "When I'm calling 'yewwwww'" (couldn't resist)

A couple Russian ones:
"Stanu ja cherjomukhoj" (I'll become a cherry tree)
"Vo polje berjozenka stojala" (A birch tree stood in the field)

Don't suppose you'd want logging songs.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees...
From: Zany Mouse
Date: 06 Jan 09 - 05:03 PM

Like Puck, I also have the Hutchins/Dunlop CD "Sway With Me". The whole CD is devoted to trees. Well worth the purchase. If you can't find it and would like it then I could get one from them I'm sure.

Blessings
Rhiannon

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees...
From: oldhippie
Date: 06 Jan 09 - 05:18 PM

There's the wonderful "The Lilac Bush & The Apple Tree" by Kate Wolf

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees..
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 06 Jan 09 - 05:21 PM

"The Lightening Tree"
"Rowan Tree"
"Under the Greenwood Tree"

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees...
From: GUEST
Date: 06 Jan 09 - 05:41 PM

Requiem (for the Giants) - Eileen McGann

Off at a bit of a tangent, but The Green Man, by John Thompson (Cloudstreet)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees...
From: Bert
Date: 06 Jan 09 - 05:44 PM

And the Green Grass Grew all Around
The Oojah tree

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees...
From: Tangledwood
Date: 06 Jan 09 - 05:46 PM

"Guest" above was me.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees...
From: GUEST,TJ in San Diego
Date: 06 Jan 09 - 05:53 PM

"In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree" (the clean version, of course).

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees...
From: GEST
Date: 06 Jan 09 - 06:27 PM

Here are two from GEST Songs of Newfoundland and Labrador:

Between Two Trees

He's Young But He's Daily Growing

GEST

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees..
From: peregrina
Date: 06 Jan 09 - 06:29 PM

Laurie Lewis 'The Maple's Lament' -a fiddle sings of its memories of being a tree in the forest

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees...
From: Hawker
Date: 06 Jan 09 - 06:33 PM

From The Cornwall Songwriters show 'Unsung Heroes, there is.......
Jon Heslop's beautiful 'Lament For the Oaks' and
Lucy Burrow's 'Tree On The Battlefield'

Oak and ash and thorn is another fine tree song.

Cheers, Lucy

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees...
From: GUEST,TJ in San Diego
Date: 06 Jan 09 - 06:46 PM

I heard a variant of "He's Young, But He's Daily Growing" back in around 1958-59 in Fresno, CA. Jon Adams, a west coast storyteller and singer who is still active, recounted learning it from his grandmother. The song had come west in a covered wagon and was an old family favorite for many generations. Of all the songs I heard him perform, this one was always done rather reverently. Here is a living example of the oral tradition. His version was called, "Oh, The Bonny Boy Is Young, But He's Growing," similar to a version listed in the footnotes of the song link in GEST's entry, above.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees...
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 06 Jan 09 - 06:47 PM

Most of the above songs just mention a tree incidentally, but a version of the already mentioned Tree in the Wood/ Everlasting Circle/ Bog down in the valley-o, would be absolutely ideal. You'd obviously have to miss out the sexual ending common to the earliest versions. The song still works well without it. As a retired teacher I can guarantee kids being fascinated by accumulative songs. My piece de resistance which leaves even the most unruly kids open-mouthed is the full version of The Barley Mow at speed.

A song I used to hear a lot which would fit but is a love song 'Hawthorn Berries'. Can't remember who wrote it.

If just a mention of a tree is okay the previously mentioned Oak and the Ash songs can include a whole forest of trees, rowan, ivy, elm etc.

A good jokey song would be'The Englishman, Irishman and Scotsman' in which they all are done for poaching & sentenced to be hung, but are allowed to choose the tree they are to be hung from. The Englishman of course chooses the oak, the Scotsman's choice escapes me, but Paddy asks to be hung on the gooseberry tree. When the judge reminds him it's too short to hang him on, Paddy retorts 'Never mind, I can wait till it grows!'

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees..
From: Genie
Date: 06 Jan 09 - 07:01 PM

Kalinka (Russian) - I think this is about a tree or shrub

The Cherry Tree Carol

In The Shade Of The Old Apple Tree

Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White

Blackjack Oak

"He's Young But He's Daily Growing" is also known as "Trees, They Grow High."

Wildwood flower also mentions some trees (e.g., the myrtle)

Buffy Saint-Marie's "Piney Wood Hills"

Cinco Robles, Cinco Cerros (Five Oaks, Five Hills)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees..
From: Genie
Date: 06 Jan 09 - 07:06 PM

There's also "Vine And Fig Tree (Lo Yisa Goy)."

It's one of many songs I can think of that mention trees or where a tree/trees is an important part of the lyric but for a song that's not about trees per se.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees...
From: katlaughing
Date: 06 Jan 09 - 07:09 PM

Probably too sad, but there's that one about the little boy tying leaves back on the tree so his little friend won't "go away"...he's been told she'll pass away when the leaves fall off in autumn, but damned if I can find it in a super search and I know we've had threads with it.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees..
From: Genie
Date: 06 Jan 09 - 08:19 PM

"Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Old Oak Tree"

"O Tannenbaum!" is an ode to an evergreen tree and what it symbolizes. The first verse has no reference to Christmas, just to the leaves being beautiful and unchanging, green not just in summertime but also in winter, when it snows.

"I see trees of green, red roses too ... " (Wonderful World)

"Yellow Bird (up high in banana tree)"

Here are a few I came up with by googling "lyrics: @ oak" or "lyrics: oak"


http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/rush/thetrees.html

"The Trees" (Rush)

There is unrest in the forest, there is trouble with the trees,
For the maples want more sunlight and the oaks ignore their pleas.

The trouble with the maples (And they're quite convinced they're right):
They say the oaks are just too lofty and they grab up all the light,
But the oaks can't help their feelings if they like the way they're made
And they wonder why the maples can't be happy in their shade

There is trouble in the forest and the creatures all have fled
As the maples scream 'Oppression!' and the oaks just shake their heads

So the maples formed a union and demanded equal rights,
'The oaks are just too greedy! We will make them give us light'
Now there's no more oak oppression for they passed a noble law,
And the trees are all kept equal by hatchet, axe and saw




http://www.metrolyrics.com/trees-lyrics-john-butler-trio.html

TREES (John Butler Trio)

They're cutting down all the trees -
Can someone stop them, please?
Thank God for people in this world
Who dedicate their lives to these.
Thank God for people in this world
Who dedicate their lives to trees.

Because

Cho:
Don't they know if they chop them down
There won't be anything to see?
Don't they know if they chop them down
There won't be anything to breathe?
Don't they know if they chop them down
It's only desert that they leave?
Don't they know anything? NO!

And it's all for the money,
That love for money.
Yes it's sweeter than honey
That love for money.
And don't care about the future,
Don't care about the past.
You just chop those trees down
While the money, it still lasts.
There's a war going on, yeah,
And it ain't in the middle east.
It's happening in our own damn country -
They're chopping down all the trees.

(Chorus)

"Hippie," "feral protestors" -
Call them what you may -
But if they weren't here right now
There wouldn't be a tree standing today.
"Hippie," "feral protestors" -
Call them what you may -
But if they weren't here right now
There wouldn't be a tree standing today.

They're cutting down all the,
They're cutting down,
They're cutting down all the,
They're cutting down,

(Chorus)

Richard Court, do you know anything?
Liberal Party, do you know anything?
John Howard, do you know anything?
Bunnings, do you know anything?
Simcore (sp?), do you know anything?
Hell no.




http://www.lyricstop.com/t/trees-martycaseylovehammers.html

TREES (Marty Casey And Lovehammers)


I don't want to go through this life
 without you by my side

And I got it all worked out in my head -
here's how it's got to be:

Chorus:


It'll be you and me

Up in the trees

And the forest will give us the answer.

It'll be you and I

Up in the sky
.
It's a combination for disaster.



We, we make believe in a world we rule together.

We can build our dreams with a knot tied tight to last forever.

(Chorus)


We got one shot, so let's use our imaginations
,Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, yeah
.
You're all that I got
, so where do we go from here?



It'll be you and me
 up in the trees
,
And the forest will give us the answer.

It'll be you and I
Up in the sky
,
It's a combination for disaster.


I know there's more for us in this life
If we hold on,
If we hold strong.

I know there's more for us in this life.

Can we hold on, can we hold on
?


Here's one performed by Snoop Dogg that's sort of about trees but proably not really what you're looking for for your kids' program: ; )

Smokin' Trees

----------


http://jamesbond007.net/Partitions/mango.html

"Underneath The Mango Tree" - Featured in the Bond movie "Dr. No."




http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/folk-song-lyrics/Oak_Ash_and_Thorn.htm



OAK, ASH, and THORN
(Music, Peter Bellamy; Words, Rudyard Kipling)
(E) Am Em Am / Am Dm Am
    Am - / Am - / Am - / Am Dm Am

Of all the trees that grow so fair, old England to adorn,
Greater are none beneath the sun than Oak, and Ash, and Thorn.

    Sing Oak, and Ash, and Thorn good sirs,
    All on a midsummer's morn.
    Surely we sing of no little thing
    In Oak, and Ash, and Thorn.

Oak of the clay lived many a day o'er ever Aeneas began
Ash of the loam was a lady at home when Brut was an outlaw man,
And Thorn of the down saw new Troy town, from which was London born
Witness hereby the ancient try of Oak, and Ash, and Thorn.

    Sing . . .

Yew that is old, in churchyard mould, he breedeth a mighty bow
Alder for shoes do wise men choose, and Beech for cups also
But when you have killed, and you bowl it is filled, and your
    shoes are clean outworn
Back you must speed for all that you need to Oak, and Ash, and Thorn

    Sing . . .

Elm, she hates mankind, and waits till every gust be laid,
To drop a limb on the head of him that anyway trusts her shade,
But whether a lad be sober or sad, or mellow with ale from the
horn,
He'll taketh no wrong when he lyeth along 'neath Oak, and Ash, and
    Thorn

    Sing . . .

Oh, do not tell the priest our plight, or he would call it a sin,
But we've been out in the woods all night, a-conjuring summer in,
And we bring you good news by word of mouth, good news for cattle
    and corn
Now is the sun come up from the south, by Oak, and Ash, and
    Thorn.

    Sing . . .
(Recorded by John Roberts and Tony Barrand on Dark Ships in
the Forest, Folk Legacy FSI65
    Rudyard Kipling's "A Tree Song" sets the scene for the stories and poems of "Puck of Pook's Hill." This setting of the verses is by Peter Bellamy of Norwich, who, since the breakup of the Young Tradition, has become one of Britain's best known exponents of traditional song. He has arranged a considerable number of Kipling's "songs," using original melodies or adapting traditional ones. This tune is his own.

-----------------


http://www.timboucher.com/journal/2008/02/12/big-elk-the-old-oak-tree-lyrics/   BIG ELK
"The Old Oak Tree" [Lyrics] ( a love song)




http://www.cowboylyrics.com/lyrics/proctor-rachel/strong-as-an-oak-13714.html

STRONG AS AN OAK (Rachel Proctor)

There's two trees in Becky Hill's front yard, one big, and one small.
That big oak's been there for ages and they planted that willow last fall

He bought it for their anniversary so they could watch it grow like their love.
Well each day she looks out the window to see it not growing that much.

And she cries like that weeping willow every time the wind starts to blow.
One of these days she's gonna be strong,
Strong like the oak.

Now she hates the thought of leaving, she hates to stay,
but somewhere in her heart she still needs him,
but not as much as she did yesterday.

And she cries like that weeping willow every time the wind starts to blow.
One of these days she's gonna be strong,
Strong like the oak

She'll walk out that screen door and hold her head high,
won't look back, won't shed a tear,
Right now she's afraid of being alone,
Oh, but she's been alone for years.

And she cries like that weeping willow every time the wind starts to blow.
One of these days she's gonna be strong,
Strong like the oak

Yeah one of these days, she's gonna be strong,
Strong as an oak.

------------


http://www.songs-lyrics.net/so-Yoko-Ono-lyrics-unknown-lyrics-Story-Of-An-Oak-Tree-lyrics-EA02B00910010236F0.html

Story of An Oak Tree (Yoko Ono)

I walked through the park and saw a young oak tree growing,

Growing beside an old bark hit by lightning.

I asked the young tree how he wished to be,

He shook his leaves and sung to me:



I'm a strong oak tree like my father used to be,

Though deep in my heart, the memory's still there.

The sky is clearer now and the wind is fair,

The world is beautiful and i like it out here.



When i hear thunder, i think of my father,

He taughtme about life, that was when i was five.

It's true that some days are more than grey,

But we learn to get by day by day.



I'm a strong oak tree like my father used to be,

Though deep in my heart, the memory's still there.

The sky is clearer now and the wind is fair,

The world is beautiful and i like it out here.



http://www.tsrocks.com/g/get_cape_wear_cape_fly_texts/an_oak_tree.html

An Oak Tree (Get Cape Wear Cape Fly)

Take a look at the oak trees in the park standing tall
like a tower of resilience despite the leaves that fall.
Stripping them back to their fraught frames,
all naked and on display.

Like us they dress for the season.
It will soon be spring again.
But you and I were not designed to be evergreens,
I guess that it's time to long for April to come.
Am i willing to wait here again?
Although I'm hungry and I'm tired
and all the bridges I made on the way
are quickly turning into fires
and as the embers are growing and no phoenix emerge.

I guess another setback is another lesson learnt.
Let's strip it back to the bare bones,
though not a matter of choice,
there's still something of worth
in just an acoustic and a voice.

As the new shoots start growing at the start of the year,
the tree is ready to deliver despite initial years.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees..
From: GUEST,julia
Date: 06 Jan 09 - 09:45 PM

Woodsman Spare that Tree
Bonny Portmore
Cill Cais
Bristlecone Pine (Hugh Prestwood)
Pukinikini (Earl Britos)Hawaiian tree
Mango Time (Tony Bird)
Tree of Life (Hebrew Trad)
Los Arbolitos (Mirabai Starr)New Mexico Trees
Johnny Appleseed
Gower Wassail (Apple Trees)
The Hawthorn Tree (May celebration)
Green Hollin
Birches (Bill Morrissey)
The Ash Grove
Logs to Burn
WOODLAND WALTZ(Jim King) Can you imagine a world without Trees
I LOVE THE TREES(Nomos)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees...
From: topical tom
Date: 06 Jan 09 - 10:48 PM

"Maple on the hill" from the Digitrad

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees..
From: Artful Codger
Date: 07 Jan 09 - 12:58 PM

Genie: "Kalinka" is somewhat about a tree. Beneath a green pine (pod sosnoju, pod zelenoju) is where she laid him down to sleep, and he implores the pine not to make noise over him. But the song is really about his sweetheart, Kalinka, like a little "berry" in a garden.

"Los Arbolitos" reminded me of "Dos Arbolitos", by Chucho Martinez Gil (1930's).

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees...
From: GUEST
Date: 07 Jan 09 - 05:09 PM

I was going to mention "Logs to Burn", a useful song as it tells you which native trees (in Britain, etc) make the best firewood (Ash is best) but somewhan has already mentioned it. Robin Williamson and his Merry Band also did a version called "The Woodcutter's Song".

My favourite song which mentions a Tree is the murder ballad "The Old Oak Tree", about a possibly real murder where the murdered girl ("Betsy") is found under an oak tree after the smell is detected by the hounds belonging to the man who killed her, called Squire McCollum or Squire Cowans in different versions. It is sung by Robin Morton of "Boys of the Lough" on their 1st album. I recently went to all the trouble of buying a new CD of this as my original vinyl album was warped, mainly to get the lyrics of this song. Then a few weeks after getting it and transcribing the lyrics (Robin himself had sent me a song sheet although the words were very slightly different from those on the album), I was doing some tidying up and found the lyrics typed out, which I must have done some years ago and forgot about it!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees...
From: GUEST,lefthanded guitar
Date: 07 Jan 09 - 07:07 PM

Sweet Sunny South

Take me back to the place where the orange trees grow
to my place in the evergreen shade
Where the flowers on the rivers' green margins do grow
to share their sweet scent with the glade.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees...
From: Melissa
Date: 07 Jan 09 - 07:15 PM

camp songs:
Tall Oak Tree (loved a babbling brook)
Green Trees (intro to Taps)

Old Country:
Tall Tall Trees (and all the money in the sea, I'm a fool fool fool for you)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees...
From: John on the Sunset Coast
Date: 07 Jan 09 - 07:21 PM

If not previously mentioned:

Tall Timber or Tall Timber's Calling - by Bob Nolan
Willow Weep for Me
In the Pines
The Hanging Tree from the western movie of the same name
Strange Fruit
Sparrow in the Tree Top

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees...
From: Melissa
Date: 07 Jan 09 - 07:26 PM

camp song:
Sparrow and Tree
Love grows under the wide (wild) oak tree

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees...
From: GUEST,Allen in OZ
Date: 07 Jan 09 - 07:57 PM

" Shearing for Old Tom Paterson on the One Tree Plain"

All among the wool boys etc

AD

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees...
From: Howard Kaplan
Date: 07 Jan 09 - 11:28 PM

The Ontario group Tamarack (yes, that's the name of a tree) produced a CD called "Tree", consisting entirely of songs about -- well, you know what I'm going to write, don't you?

There's some information about the CD at http://www.treecanada.ca/shop/cd.htm.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees..
From: semi-submersible
Date: 08 Jan 09 - 06:30 PM

In your first post, bubblyrat, weren't those lyrics supposed to be:

Oh, the buzzing of the bees in the cigarette trees
By the soda water fountain,
And the lemonade springs where the bluebird sings
In the Big Rock Candy Mountain

?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees...
From: open mike
Date: 08 Jan 09 - 09:29 PM

i often do a set of tree songs..
maple's lament (laurie lewis)
Piney Wood Hills (buffy St. M.)

and this one--not yet mentioned i think
bristlecone pine

written by www.hughprestwood.com/

recorded also by www.jimsalestrom.com/bristlecone.html
bryanbowers.com/ bryan bowers is a master auto harp player and it is the title song of his latest recording

also Watching the apples grow...Stan Rogers
and Settin' chokers in the god damn rain...

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees..
From: Genie
Date: 09 Jan 09 - 05:14 AM

"...

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.

Oh don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got till it's gone?
They've paved paradise, put up a parking lot.

..."
Joni Mitchell, "Big Yellow Taxi"

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees...
From: katlaughing
Date: 09 Jan 09 - 12:11 PM

Just listening to The Tree Song by Bert Jansch...neat song.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees...
From: Tangledwood
Date: 09 Jan 09 - 06:29 PM

Looks as if OP GUEST,guest can't find the trees for the forest. :)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees..
From: Charley Noble
Date: 09 Jan 09 - 11:06 PM

Oh, dear, it will be hard to find the tree songs in this forest! Maybe I should "leave" this thread now.

But, I don't believe, anyone has mentioned Malvina Reynold's gentle protest song "The Lambert Children" where the village children climbed the trees threatened by the developers.

There are hundreds of traditional lumber harvesting songs, but no one seems interested in them.

There's "The Tree of Life" which is more of a spiritual song, which I don't think anyone has mentioned.

Then there's "Wind in a Million Leaves" by Australia's John Warner (from THE SEA AND THE SOIL, © 1997, 2000), for those who wish to ponder:

"Must we make a desert with our own cruel hands
And die of a waste with a heart that grieves,
Or gaze on the stars through the branching limbs,
To the song of the wind in a million leaves."

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees...
From: open mike
Date: 10 Jan 09 - 12:38 AM

Yes, I mentioned the Lambeth Children, O by Malvina Reynolds..

here are the lyrics...
http://www.lovelylambeth.com/history-03.html

and here:
http://www.wku.edu/~smithch/MALVINA/mr087.htm

also there is a line in the song "the Water is Wide"

midi here:
http://www.ireland-information.com/irishmusic/thewateriswide.shtml

"i leaned my back against an oak....
thinking it was a trusty tree
but first he bent and then he broke..
so did my love prove false to me"

there is also another song about how it is good
to be flexible like the willow (or grass?)
and bend instead of breaking like an oak...

not sure if it is walk the way the wind blows??? or not...

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees...
From: Tangledwood
Date: 10 Jan 09 - 04:46 AM

""Wind in a Million Leaves" by Australia's John Warner"

Thank you Charley, that looks like one that will be worth chasing up.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees..
From: Charley Noble
Date: 10 Jan 09 - 04:50 PM

Tangledwood-

John Warner is a national treasure, and he has a new website: Click here for website!

John is also a member of the sea music group The Roaring Forties and more information can be harvested from their website as well.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees...
From: Tangledwood
Date: 10 Jan 09 - 06:22 PM

Thanks for the link to the new website, I'll give it a thorough browse when I finish here. Yes, i was lucky enough to see the Roaring Forties at Woodford a few years ago and Anderson's Coast is one of my favourite songs to play. (thinks - must play "Shore Leave" later - haven't done so for a while)

Subject: Lyr Add: MACHINES ARE CLOSING IN (Paul Spencer)
From: GUEST,Machines Are Closing In - Paul Spencer
Date: 02 Jun 09 - 08:11 AM

Machines Are Closing In - Paul Spencer, 1997

Tomorrow when all the bush is grey
The darkness before the break of day
Then headlights and diesel engine noise
Our warning, machines are closing in
At daylight the slaughter will begin
We'll see then what selfishness destroys

How much is ancient forest worth?
How dear our world of death and birth?
My life belongs to planet Earth

Police cars come in to join the fight
The small things all run away in fright
The bush birds disperse on silent wings
The primates can fight among themselves
The cops throw some friends of mine in cells
The road clears the day of work begins

The ground shakes as timber crashes down
Our anger, enchanted by the sound
Released by the growling of machines
Alone now, the tears are free to flow
This old bush, ten thousand years to grow
Forsaken for seven bucks a ream

As you can tell, Paul was and remains a dedicated anti-woodchip activist..

Subject: Lyr Add: BY THE DRY CARDRONA (James K. Baxter)
From: AnneMC
Date: 03 Jun 09 - 06:43 AM

BY THE DRY CARDRONA (cherry tree)
Lyrics by James K. Baxter
http://folksong.org.nz/drycardr/index.html (has midi)


Oh I can tell where the cherries grow,
By the dry Cardrona
Where I picked them long ago,
On a day when I was sober
On a day when I was sober.
(Audience repeats the last line of each verse)

My father wore a parson's coat
By the dry Cardrona
He kept a tally of the sheep and the goats,
And I was never sober.

My mother sewed her Sunday skirt
By the dry Cardrona
They say she died of a broken heart
'Cause I was never sober.

I loved a young miss, and only one
By the dry Cardrona
But she up and married the banker's son,
For I was never sober.

I courted a widow of forty-nine
By the dry Cardrona
She owned a stable and a Scheelite mine,
But I was never sober.

Oh lay my bones till the judgment crack
By the dry Cardrona
A blanket swag upon my back,
To pillow me drunk or sober.

All rivers run to the rimless grave
Even the wild Cardrona,
But never a one will come my way
Till I am stone cold sober.

But I can tell where the cherries grow,
By the dry Cardrona
Where I picked them long ago,
On a day when I was sober.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees...
From: Jack Campin
Date: 03 Jun 09 - 06:56 AM

Which reminds me of another New Zealand one - quoting from memory, from Denis Glover's "Sings Harry" cycle, as set to music by Douglas Lilburn:

Once my strength was an avalanche
now it follows the fold of the hill.
Once my love was a flowering branch
now withered and still.
Once it was all fighting and folly
and a girl who followed me.
Who plucked at me plucked holly
but I pluck the flowers of the sea...

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees...
From: GUEST,Philippa
Date: 03 Jun 09 - 11:45 AM

an old related thread Celtic songs about trees

Cill Chais (Irish Gaelic with two English lang translations)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees..
From: GUEST,Gerry
Date: 03 Jun 09 - 11:33 PM

Shto Si Goro Povyakhnala is maybe my favorite Bulgarian song. I haven't found the lyrics, in translation or other wise, online, but I think the songs begins by asking the trees why they are weeping.

Subject: Lyr Add: THE LAMBETH CHILDREN O (Malvina Reynolds)
From: open mike
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 09:02 PM

Malvina Reynolds: Song Lyrics and Poems

The Lambeth Children O
Notes: words and music by Malvina Reynolds; copyright 1966 Schroder Music Company, renewed 1994. This song is based on a 1966 news report from the town of Lambeth, Ontario, Canada, concerning how "About fifty children, hanging from branches, forced the woodmen to spare the trees yesterday in this village just south of London" (The Muse of Parker Street, p. 95).

((Version One)):
Fifty children sitting in the trees,
Fifty children swingin in the breeze,
Up in the branches and off their knees,
Hooray for the Lambeth children, O,
Hooray for the Lambeth children, O.
Eleven fine maples growing in a row,
The road to be widened doomed them to go,
But fifty kids of Lambeth cried "No, no!"
Hooray for the Lambeth children, O,
Hooray for the Lambeth children, O.
Roads we've enough and roads everywhere,
Roads for the cars we can very well spare,
But long live the maple trees, green or bare,
And hooray for the Lambeth children, O,
Hooray for the Lambeth children, O.
Woodsmen came with their axes and their saws,
But kids on the branches, chirruping like daws,
And the woodsmen said, "The devil with the laws,
And hooray for the Lambeth children, O,
And hooray for the Lambeth children, O."
Lambeth town in Ontario,
That's where the maple trees stand in a row,
That's where the loveliest children grow,
Hooray for the Lambeth children, O,
Hooray for the Lambeth children, O.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees...
From: Andy Jackson
Date: 07 Jul 09 - 05:23 AM

If you are still looking how about a fairly unknown:
Cutting down the trees by the late Rick Keeling. Written back in the early 70's it is still one of my favourite songs.

They're cutting down the trees down our street,
They're cutting down the Sycamore and the Oak
And Jimmy says they're gonna build a highway,
Like the one he once seen in a book.

Etc.....
From my (bad) memory
Available on Waiting for the Leaves Rick Keeling
from Forest Tracks.

Andy

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees...
From: Jack Blandiver
Date: 07 Jul 09 - 05:31 AM

Wooden Tree by Ivor Cutler

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees...
From: Jack Campin
Date: 07 Jul 09 - 06:12 AM

Brian McNeill, The Yew Tree.

Though this suggests it needs an updated ending: Lightning kills 16 cows near Pencaitland.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Looking for song lyrics about trees...
From: SharonA
Date: 07 Jul 09 - 10:06 AM

"Autumn Leaves"

"High Hopes" (with the ant moving the rubber tree plant)

"Fake Plastic Trees" by Radiohead

"The Dreaming Tree" by Dave Matthews Band

"Cherry Tree" by 10,000 Maniacs

"Saking the Tree" by Peter Gabriel

...and any number of Christian hymns that make reference to the cross as a tree.

Subject: Lyr Add: TREE WASSAIL
From: robinia
Date: 07 Jul 09 - 11:21 AM

what about the lovely "Tree Wassail"-


We praise the trees, strong may you grow, we praise your roots that downward go
We praise your branches reaching high, bearing leaves that touch the sky.
        In the spring with blossoms crowned, in fall apples ripe and round.
        Bless the flower and bless the seed, and bless the fruit of every tree.
May winters cold to you be kind, may you blossom in the spring sunshine
May gentle rain in its season fall, may you be loved by one and all
        In the spring with blossoms crowned, in fall apples ripe and round
        Bless the flower and bless the seed, and bless the fruit of every tree.
We thank you for your blossoms sweet, we thank you for the fruit we eat.
Receive our thanks for all you give, growing joy, long may you live.        
        In the spring with blossoms crowned, in fall apples ripe and round,
        Bless the flower and bless the seed, and bless the fruit of every tree.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: songs about trees...
From: GUEST,threelegsoman
Date: 28 Dec 09 - 07:07 PM

Hi Ger,

May I suggest The Bristlecone Pine the oldest living trees on the planet. It is one I have uploaded, can't remember if you have used it at all.

Tony

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: songs about trees...
From: open mike
Date: 28 Dec 09 - 10:16 PM

i mentioned bristlecone pine,
and it has been the title song
on one of Bryan Bowers'
(autoharp player)
newer albums.
www.bryanbowers.com

Subject: Lyr Add: ANNIE (E Clapton, K Lambert, R Lane)
From: quokka
Date: 29 Dec 09 - 10:46 AM

Not sure of the name of this one but it's lovely:
(may be called simply "Annie" -Ronnie Lane & Eric Clapton)

Old oaks stand tall, Annie
See the world grow small, Annie
But when they fall, Annie
Where will we be?

Winter has come, Annie
No strength in the sun, Annie
But when it's gone, Annie
Where will we be?

When those colours have faded
When old Jack comes to call
Don't tell him no, tell him maybe...
Oh Annie, God bless us all
God bless us all

In the chill wind that calls, Annie
Every leaf must fall, Annie
God bless us all, Annie
Wherever we be
God bless us all, Annie
Wherever we be

Cheers,

Quokka

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: songs about trees...
From: GUEST,Topher
Date: 06 Jan 10 - 11:39 AM

Okay so when i was young my mom sang a lullaby or hymn that she called the red oak tree, I know that she didn't make it but i haven't been able to find it, i can remember a couple of the lyrics but not all of the song,
"Make me a grave where I can quietly lay, where the --- and the sky above, oh make me a grave where I can quietly lay, neath the elm and the ash, and the red oak tree."
any help is appreciated...

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: songs about trees...
From: quokka
Date: 06 Jan 10 - 09:33 PM

Hi, guest topher - You probably need to start a new thread looking for this song

Cheers,
Quokka

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: songs about trees...
From: breezy
Date: 07 Jan 10 - 11:44 AM

'Sway with me ' as mentioned earlier

Good on you Puck and Rhiannon who is snowed in

the song is written from the tree's perpective, Its the tree talking.

'On a hillside dark and deep, as you close your eyes to sleep,

A lost soul there for the taking '


Great tune and middle 8, singable join inable last lines

I heard it by Brad Bradstock and booked him and then heard some more good songs.

Sung also now by Moses and the ref

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: songs about trees...
From: quokka
Date: 15 Jan 10 - 05:20 PM

Hi guest topher, I started the thread for you about The Elm and the Ash and the Red (Black?) Oak Tree. As usual, Mudcatters have come up with some good stuff.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: songs about trees...
From: peregrina
Date: 15 Jan 10 - 05:25 PM

Mike Tickell's CD Warksburn includes 'Rennie's song', written by Rennie Proudlock, about "the effects of blanket afforestation on an area."

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: songs about trees...
From: nickp
Date: 16 Jan 10 - 10:39 AM

Stve Knightley/Show of Hands "The Oak"

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: songs about trees...
From: nickp
Date: 16 Jan 10 - 10:40 AM

That, of course, should have been Steve Knightley...

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: songs about trees...
From: open mike
Date: 16 Jan 10 - 02:18 PM

I am not sure if these have been posted already..but..
Maple's Lament...by Laurie Lewis
Bristle Cone Pine...by Hugh Prestwood
Piney Wood Hills...Buffy St. Marie
Heart on a Hill...Kristina Olsen
Lemon Tree--Trini Lopez
Little bird that builds her nest in a white oak tree..
"where the bad boys cannot bother me"
(I'm as free a little bird as i can be...)
Bury Me Beneath the Willow...trad? Carter family?
FRUIT TREES...PAT WYNNE