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The Lyrics to the Music of Haruhuani Spruce
Titles are arranged in alphabetical order
A River is a Being*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
A river is a Being
Singing songs to the Earth of its life
And a river is a wild thing
When you tame it, it starts to die
Now the rivers once ran silver
From the mountains down to the sea
It's the logging, the dams, and the sewage
That make these sluggish brown streams
A Song for the Spiritual Journey*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
Funny how the heart can see things
Far, far away.
But I can see you in that way.
It's amazing, hearts can feel things I can't say.
And I can feel you every day.
I am a lonely one, I get lost in fear.
The warmth of a thousand suns cannot melt one bitter tear.
Yet on some distant planet, somewhere out in space
The light of your loving heart is shining on my face.
Underneath these costumes we wear there are hearts.
Feeling lost and lonely, beating, missing parts.
Underneath these costumes we wear there are stars.
Bringing forth the Heart of Being, singing Love.
But why is the melody so faint and thin?
My memories are failing me, my vision growing dim.
Out here on this journey my old ways don't work anymore.
I can't see the road ahead; I shall have to use my heart.
All Is Welcome Here*
Written by Deva Premal & Miten. I learned it from my good friend Neal Apple, who sings it so beautifully. Jonathan Veenker on piano.
Lyrics
Broken hearts and broken wings
Bring it all and everything
And bring the song you fear to sing
All is welcome here
Even if you broke your vow a thousand times
Come anyhow
We’re stepping into the power of now
And all is welcome here
See the father and the son
Reunited here they come
Dancing to the sacred drum
They know they’re welcome here
I see the shaman
And the mighty Priest
See the beauty and the beast
Singing I have been released
And I am welcome here
I stood alone at the gateless gate
Too drunk on love to hesitate
To the winds I cast my fate
And the remnants of my fear
I took a deep breath and I leapt
And I awoke as if I’d never slept
Tears of gratitude I wept
I was welcome here
So bring your laughter
And bring your tears
Your busy lives and your careers
And bring the pain you
carried for years
All is welcome here
Freedom is not so far away
And there’s only one price
We have to pay
Live our dreams till they fade away
And let them go.
America, Pacific NW*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
My body came from the soils that lie
Near the great San Francisco Bay;
Now I live on the banks of a sparkling stream
Up in Oregon, 500 miles away.
As I sit by the river, and smell the woods,
As I know this land of my birth,
Then I know that my love for America
Is the same as my love for the Earth.
My mother grew in the sun and the rain
Of the wide Oklahoma plain,
And my father’s father and mother came
On a boat from Poland, half a world away.
When I walk on the beach and I feel the wind....
Long may this land roll beneath the sky,
May her forest grow wild and green.
May her streams run clear from her mountainsides,
May she sing, America, forever free.
Bird Song*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
Listen to the bird’s song.
Where have all the birds gone?
Fallen with the mighty trees.
Strange, unhuman voice I hear,
Softly falling on my ear,
Teach me how to understand,
I, who sing these songs of man.
Blockade Song*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
Oh, the trees they do grow tall
And the valleys they grown green
All in the shade of a summer’s afternoon--
The people came with a trembling in our hearts,
For we meant to stop the bulldozers.
Shul, schul, schul a-roo,
The forest is our own true love,
So we will stand beside her now,
‘Til the jails are overflowin’.
We climbed up on
That new-cut loggin’ road.
We joined our hands and sang our songs,
And for a moment, the truth was in the world--
For a moment, we stopped the bulldozer.
Bones*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
This is not Native American. It is native me. It is also the only song I ever wrote in Iowa, where the Eastern Forest meets the Great North American Plains.
Lyrics:
There's a singing in the Forest
I have heard it all my life.
Ah, the tears and the laughter
It's the song of Earth.
It was singing in the morning on the day that I was born
It will be singing in the twilight
When I am gone.
Ayaah! Creatures in the trees
Ayaah! Creatures in the weed
Ah, the Wonder.
There's a singing across the Prairie
It is hissing through the grass
It's the song of the
glaciers
Sung by Roots of Plants.
You can plow us, you can pave us,
You can poison every stream.
We remain forever on the Land,
In dreams.
Oh, Mother of the Seasons,
Should I fall beneath the Snow,
Let the warm rays of Summer
Bleach my bones.
Chicago*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
We drove the freeway through the dirty town,
Bringing our environmental show
To the Chicago Academy of Sciences,
To plead for the wildlands of the world.
When I sang, the young museum director took the stage.
He spoke of how Chicago used to be.
And when the lights came up, he found me at the T-shirt table.
He said, “There’s something upstairs you’ll want to see.”
And he led me past the velvet ropes, up marble stairs,
To the life-sized diorama display.
And through the darkened halls of the great museum,
I saw the land of Illinois when she was free.
She wore her wildness like a silver gown,
That moved across the forest as she breathed;
Her gentle woodland marshes fingered down
To her shining sea.
I saw moose and wild turkey, walking unafraid
Through the many-flowered prairie grass.
I saw a cougar nurse her babies in a shale ravine
Where the ferns caught drops of water ...through the glass...
In the morning, on the Interstate, the sky hung brown
Over flat and empty miles of sterile corn,
But as we rolled on toward Missouri, when I closed my eyes,
I could see the woodland prairie ... reborn.
She wore her wildness like a sliver gown,
That moved across the forest as she breathed,
And as she lives on in Earth’s sweet memory,
So she is to me.
Colors of My Soul*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
# Partial lyrics:
Chorus:
These are the colors of my soul,
Red and green, blue and yellow
Strong and true, strong and true
Older than the mountains,
Fresh and new.
When the morning, when the Sun
Comes streaming
All the world, all the world Is new
And the hope that arises within each
Living thing.
Chorus
1:34
Hate is rising from the .. moon
In you soft embrace I
I am there, I am truly there
Chorus
2:36
Silver star upon a sea of
Silver planets traveling through space
In the sightings of the darkest universe
All is one, all may be at peace.
Chorus
Country Song*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
Someday I’m going to move out in the country.
Think I’ve had enough of city ways.
I’m going where the owlet sings at evening,
And the wind comes rushing through my days.
I’m going where the world is living green,
Going where the seasons keep the time.
You’ll find me on the banks of a clear rushing stream,
Listening softly to the music of the pines.
In springtime, I’ll go out among the flowers,
Plant corn and tomatoes in the dirt.
I’ll walk the hills and woodlands hours and hours,
Just listening to the breathing of the Earth.
In summer, I’ll go swimming in the river,
Make apple pies and jellies in the fall.
And a crackling fire and crystal nights of winter
May be the highest, clearest times of all.
Cummins Creek*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
Cummins Creek, take me down, take me down the water where
Waters run bright and clear--
Giant trees spread their branches along by Cummins Creek,
Sheltering elk and deer.
Eagles fly in heaven, very much like heaven
To me.
And if you sit softly down, softly down by Cummins Creek,
You can remember when...
When the world, once the world was alive, a wilder place,
Far from the ways of men.
You can feel it again.
So take me down, softly down by Cummins Creek,
I can feel it again.
National Geographic
Duet (The Dance of Duality)*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
Hear it in the wind, he cried
Hear it in the ocean,
Feel it in the burning flame
And in the Earth.
There’s a tale unfolding here
Tale of great Illusion
I shall find you there, my love.
And I shall bring you home.
Why should we go traveling?
Said his sweet companion
We are the power
That is now.
Let the Spirit flow through this moment
I am with you now, my love.
We are already home.
Chorus:
Earth and Air, and Fire and Water,
Shelter me, balance me,
And tell my story.
It is for the learning, dear,
We are the passion,
We are the dance, we are the Breath,
Every aspiration, every creature,
We are the Living Earth, my Love.
And I shall bring you home
I shall search the battle field,
In the grisly dungeons,
Through the walls of hatred
Love will shine.
Wandering through the night
We shall bring the Living Light
I shall find you there, my Love.
And I shall bring you home.
So they fly forever,
Like a giant bird they fly,
One wing of dark, and one of light.
Flying through the drama
of our lives here,
That is how it is, my love.
We are already home.
Chorus
Eyes of Man*
By Melanie Salfka, adapted by Haruhuani Spruce
Thank you, Melanie, for this hauntingly beautiful song of the Wonder. I added another verse and perform it here.
This video is dedicated with love and compassion to Ed Meyerowitz, the man who showed the me entry into the magic of the Oregon Old Growth forest, and who first played this Melanie song for me.
Lyrics:
I was out walking early one morning
When I lived alone in the dunes.
As I remember it wasn't quite dawn and I could still see the full moon.
My senses told me that out in the silence
I might see or hear or touch the unknown,
But the sun was faster than I was, the magic
Had set and was all but gone.
CHORUS: Oh, Lord!
Let me see something never seen before by the eyes of man,
Let me see something never seen before by the eyes of man,
I think I saw a long time ago
Will I ever see again?
People saw a long time ago,
Will we ever see again?
Magic is the living fire that breathes a planet's soul.
Birds fly the continents, babies are born, and what do we think that we know?
CHORUS
Flowers in the Spring*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
# Partial lyrics:
See how the flowers in the spring
Open up again to the sun and to the rain
Soft petals floating in the sun and when it begins this day
I can feel the flowers, I can feel the sun
I can feel the flowers, I can feel the sun
All the flowers on this day
We must be stronger
Five million years before we came
all the flowers ???
Let me see something never seen before by the eyes of man,
Let me see something never seen before by the eyes of man,
I think I saw a long time ago
Will I ever see again?
People saw a long time ago,
Will we ever see again?
Magic is the living fire that breathes a planet's soul.
Birds fly the continents, babies are born, and what do we think that we know?
CHORUS
High in the Mountains*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
Spaces are wide high in the mountains,
Bright blue sky, flowers in the wind,
The Sawtooths rise at the head of the valley--
Naked Earth — strong like dreams.
Li, Li, high in the mountains,
Li, li, deep in dreams.
I dreamed I sang a song of the mountains...
I dreamed I sang a song of the rivers...
I dreamed I sang a song of the forest...
I dreamed I sang the healing.
I cast my dreams out on the mountain,
The mountains said, “We gave you dreams to dream.”
Home: Truth or Consequences, New Mexico*
Written by Karla Bonoff, adapted by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
Travelin’ at night down I-25
The lights fade out after Belen
And the pure desert night, stars
shinin’ bright
Welcomes me home again.
CHORUS:
And home sings me of sweet things
My life here has its own wings
Fly over the mountain
Though I’m standin’ still.
Ah, the people I’ve seen, they rush in between
The schedules of tiring life,
And the trains come and go but inside you know
The struggle will soon come to fight.
CHORUS
At the edge of the night, first morning light
Washes the desert land
And around the next bend, my
Turtleback friend
Beckons a rocky hand.
CHORUS
I Am*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
The light that shines though our everyday lives.
Lyrics:
I am the path across the water,
Crooked footsteps in the sand.
I cannot be bought or altered,
I Am, I Am, All That I Am….
I have been the lonely traveler,
I have been the wealthy merchant,
I have been the mother who
Has watched her children starve In the midst of plenty.
I Am, I Am
Faith comes rolling down the mountain
Shining through the waves of sadness,
Sold my brother into slavery
All for his house and land,
I Am, All That I Am….I Am.
I Don’t Know How to Love Him*
By Andrew Lloyd Webber, Jonathan Veenker, piano.
Lyrics:
I don’t know how to love him
What to do, how to move him
I’ve been changed, yes really changed
In these past few days
When I’ve seen myself
I seem like someone else
I don’t know how to take this
I don’t see why he moves me
He’s a man
He’s just a man
And I’ve had so many
Men before
In very many ways
He’s just one more
Should I bring him down
Should I scream and shout
Should I speak of love
Let my feelings out?
I never thought I’d come to this
What’s it all about?
Don’t you think it’s rather funny
I should be in this position?
I’m the one
Who’s always been
So calm so cool
No lover’s fool
Running every show
He scares me so I never thought I’d come to this
What’s it all about?
Yet if he said he loved me
I’d be lost
I’d be frightened
I couldn’t cope
Just couldn’t cope
I’d turn my head
I’d back away
I wouldn’t want to know
He scares me so
I want him so
I love him so
I Know a Tree*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
I know a tree whose old forest home
Is soon to be cow pasture,
Rural Residential--
He knows.
I told him, “The wild spirits they are all leaving.
The wild Earth is calling us home.” He said,
“I am not leaving.
I am not leaving”
He said, “I must stay to hold down the soil,
To hold in the water,
To nurture the land.
It was this I was born to, and it’s this I’ll do well,
Though I burn in the fires of the future.”
I told him, “Well, part of you’s coming with me.
It’s the part of you twined in my soul.
I’ll carry your memory safe to the homeland.
We’ll be together there soon.”
“Then part of you stays,” my good friend replied.
“For I now your spirit, your songs.
Your love it will linger, like a voice that will sing to me
After the forest is gone.
I am not leaving,
I am not leaving....”
I Shall Not Leave You (A Dark Time)*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
A dark time is coming to this land
And I must go away (all the spirits fly)
But I shall not leave you...
I will meet you in the sky-blue valley
And I will be your friend...
Idaho*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
Idaho, oh Idaho
I can hear your song in my bones,
I can hear your song.
Where the wealthy tourists go,
Places where they don’t belong,
Building garbage homes.
I believe they will be leaving soon
‘Cause the world they made is falling down.
Once I had a dream
Of wide open spaces
Then I saw them in your land.
Oh I saw your rivers
And wild mountain valleys
With snow upon the wind.
You know,
I can hear your freedom roll
Through your rocky soul,
Idaho–
We come and go.
Gila Cliff Dwellings, NM, photo by Haru Spruce
Light and Shadow *
Written by Haruhuani Spruce, Jonathan Veenker, piano
Lyrics:
Every creature of the light
Comes to birth through darkest night.
So the season’s circle dance
Describes the form of consciousness.
Light and shadow, Light and shadow
Breathing out and breathing in
Planting and then harvesting.
Good and bad entwine like snakes,
As our Mother flies through space.
Light and Shadow, Light and Shadow
In the circle of the heart
There is light and there is dark
Staying true to what we feel
We uncover what is real.
Light and shadow, Light and Shadow
Portrait by Matthew Veenker
Love Song*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
We’re a strange tribe, it seems,
Always standing in the shadows of our dreams,
And sometimes we don’t know what’s false or true--
We only have our hearts to use.
So we’ve gone our separate ways.
You keep fighting while I’m learning how to pray.
And I know I don’t seem like
I’m much use to you, the Earth prays too.
I really love you
And I don’t mind the pain.
I will be close to you
When you’re walking in the sun and the rain.
Fight the fight, play the game.
Don’t you think I ever want for you to change.
Your valiant heart will tell you what it wants to do.
I only want you to be true.
National Geographic
Love will Save the World*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
#
Message of Kozu*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce, Jonathan Veenker, piano
"Weaving tales through lifetimes."
Lyrics:
Come, let the fire die.
Stir the coals in the darkness,
Stir the Soul in the darkness.
Here at the edge of time,
Silence reigns in the darkness
See the flame in the Darkness.
Light from a distant star
Filters down through lifetimes
Lights the way through lifetimes.
Friends is what we are
Painting light and darkness
Weaving tales through lifetimes.
Here at the edge of time,
Here at the edge of time,
I will wait for you.
photo by Haru Spruce
Monticello Canyon*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
The Warm Springs Apache people consider the Monticello Box, the sheer canyon high on the Mogollon Rim in southern New Mexico, to the be place of their spiritual emergence.
The creek itself emerges out of the mountain as a warm springs in this high open place, then pours down the descent of the Mogollon Rim, heading for the Rio Grande.
This song is to honor the canyon, the Springs, Spirit, the Earth.
Lyrics:
There’s a place of the Soul’s emergence
In the mountains so high,
Water gushes from the mountains
Underneath New Mexico sky.
And the voices of the Elders
Echo sweetly on the wind,
Walk in peace, Monticello Canyon,
Honor all, that all may live.
Flowing down through sheer rock canyons,
Ribbon of green, river of Life,
Flowing steady through the seasons,
Offering all the gift of life.
Thunder’s rolling down the canyon,
Hawk is soaring on the wind,
Walk in peace, Monticello Canyon,
Honor all, that all may live.
My Soul Is Dancing*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce with Rahmana Wiest backup vocals, Dan Rhiger, guitar.
Lyrics:
Pelican, elegant,
Spread your brown and slender wings
Above the wave and then
You dive
Into
The water.
A silky seal pokes his head
Up through the wave
And then he rolls–
The shiny Fisherman
Is dancin’
On the
Water.
Little bird, fly,
Cutting crazy patterns
On the foam
Against the sky
Your soul is dancin’
On the
Water.
My soul is dancing!
My soul is dancing!
October wind is in my hair
Sunshine fills the salt spray air
And I am dancing…
On the rocks…
Landlubber on the
Water!
My soul is dancing!
My soul is dancing!
My soul is dancing
On the water.
My Sweet Oregon Home*
Written and performed by Haruhuani Spruce, with Rahmana Wiest, backup vocals, George Shook, mandocello, and Michael Cooper, guitar
Lyrics:
There’s a sweet and virgin land,
There’s a sweet and virgin land,
I know because I have been there.
Flowers blooming by the sea
Moves a place inside of me–
Wild Earth and wild sea, and clean air.
It’s my sweet Oregon home,
Where the bear and the Elk still can roam.
Oh, take care of my Oregon home
“Cause it’s worth more than gold.
Mountain valleys white with snow,
Forest deep and green below,
Secrets of Nature you’ll find there.
If you learn to love the land,
Learn to leave it as it stands
You can find true peace of mind there.
It’s my sweet Oregon home,
It’s my sweet Oregon home,
There is peace in this Oregon land
That is worth more than gold.
Memories of ancient trees
Linger on in city streets,
Cascades and wild glades in sweet dreams.
But there’s a wild and virgin land,
Yes, a sweet and virgin land
These are the lands that we must save.
So don’t log off my Oregon home!
Don’t spray the hills of my Oregon home!
Don’t drill of the shores of my Oregon home!
Can’t you leave it alone?
It’s my sweet Oregon home….
Oh California*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
I’ll sing you a song of a land that is dying,
A song of the waves, and the rocks, and the wind.
I’ll sing the sweet song of the great norther Redwoods,
A song of a time that will not come again.
Oh, California, your dark norther forest
Were treasures more precious than silver or gold.
Oh, California, the wild rolling ocean
Still speaks to the spirit that once was your soul.
Light filters green, down through branches and branches-
Ferns nestle soft at the feet of the trees.
The bear and the owl rest beside the clear water,
And I, in the forest, am deeply at peace.
Rain drizzles down on the bare, ruined hillside.
The wind pulls and tears at the trees that remain.
Oh, who, California, has fostered this madness?
And when will your lovely dark hills come again?
Oregon Rain*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
With great love for the Oregon Forest.
Lyrics:
As I walked out in the Oregon rain
The creeks were running like rivers
The peace of winter had come to the land
And the sky was all hung with silver.
The rain dripped down on the tall Douglas Firs,
The moss was glistening and gleaming
The red leaves lay like a coat on the ground
And the little brown birds were singing.
Give thanks for the rivers and wild rushing streams
That wash the land bright and clean
Give thanks for the music that laughs on the hills,
And give thanks for the Oregon rain
Out Beyond*
Lyrics for chorus adapted from Rumi, lyrics and music for verses by Terry Yazzolino and Daniel Rhiger with adaptation by Haru Spruce.
Please listen to Dan Rhiger and Rahmana Weist performing this song. They are Sky In The Road.
Lyrics:
Chorus:
Out beyond ideas of right and wrong
There is a field– I’ll take you there.
And we shall let the beauty we love
Be what we dare.
In this world we are born
Beneath the sky we pray.
We have the knowing that we are One
Beneath this Passion Play.
CHORUS:
Drunk with love, I let my aces fall.
This flame that burns me, makes me whole-
I am the lover of All That Is,
One Heart, One Breath, One Soul.
Rain*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
#
Red Hair*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
The King and his men came riding, riding over the hill,
Lances forward, banners flying, ready to kill.
Storming the castle wall, to capture the Maid within.
They rode into the silence of the Great Chamber Hall.
To their chagrin they found nobody at all!
Smoke and mirrors, confusion did reign,
And they were dumped out at the bottom of the hill.
She watches the Moon and the Sun,
Creatures of the Forest, she knows every one,
She watches the red-haired King
And she takes his measure well.
The King lay in the moon light in the camp of his men.
In his heart he heard a voice so plain.
She said, “Meet me in the dawning in my Garden green,
And lay your weapons down.”
The morning mist was rising as he opened the gate.
His face was soft, his eyes were soft, and open his heart.
And there among the growing things he felt her love,
But he could not see her there.
She waits between the night and the day,
Looking down on his beautiful face,
Layers and layers of Earthly cares,
No he could not linger there.
And then out of the mist appeared a red, red Rose.
He laid it on the grass where he felt her the most,
And she gave him a ribbon, a silver cord,
And he pressed it to his heart.
Silver Moon Forest Dance*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
#
The Beetle (Time in the Forest)*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
It has taken me over twenty years to really know that for me, the Work alluded to by the Beetle, is spiritual.
Of all the songs I've written, this one has influenced me the most. Recently I have heard: The reason why it looks like the great ecosystems of the Earth are leaving...is because they are leaving. and No thing dies until it is time for it to go.
Lyrics:
I talked to a Beetle,
I talked to a Beetle,
We spoke of the nature,
We spoke of the nature of Time,
Time, Time in the Forest,
Time, time,
Time in the Forest.
He swayed on a fern frond
high over my head
Like a little green tank.
“I am ancient,” he said.
This is time, time,
Time in the Forest,
Time, time,
Time in the forest.
Through liquid green sunlight
Tall trees spread their branches,
A creek softly singing
A song of this moment in
Time, time,
Time in the Forest,
Time, time,
Time in the forest.
I confessed, “I am longing
To talk to the Creatures,
To learn all their secrets!”
He said, “There’s no
Time, time,
Time in the Forest,
Time. Time,
Time in the forest.
It’s time just to work for to save all the Forest!
To work for to save us…
Although…they destroy us.
It’s time, time
Time in the Forest,
Time, time,
Time in the Forest
No time, no time,
NO TIME, NO TIME
It’s time.
The Day the Forest Died*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
Well, some sat in their offices
And they worked on their reports
While others cruised the woods in shiny vehicles--
And none of them suspected,
And none broke down and cried
The day the forest died.
But I was in the forest
Underneath the trees,
And I heard it on the wind that passed between us--
“The wilderness is broken, and you know it’s time to flee,
Oh, listen for the signs from the Four Directions....”
But some sat in their offices
And they worked up timber sales,
And they counted all the money that was due them.
And none of them suspected
That the coffers would run dry
On the day the forest died.
National Geographic
The Healing*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
I was riding across the prairie in a landscape of my dream
As the sunlight was slowly fading over red hills I could see.
Ten thousand women on horseback, from four directions they rode,
Among the riders, fast approaching, strode a million Buffalo.
The council fires were burning brightly as we spoke our hearts in prayer
But we could not find the answer to the quest that brought us here.
We were searching for the healing between the women and the men
For we knew that when we can heal this
Then the Buffalo will come again.
Then we looked up and saw Grandfather with Grandmother by his side.
He said, “Remember the men and women from a distant, ancient time
The men were hunters and protectors of the spirit of the tribe
And the women were not their property, no, the women were their lives.
Then spoke my Grandmother in a voice both soft and firm,
“Oh, his mother has betrayed him, and he’s afraid to let you in.
If he should open up his heart to you, and be betrayed again,
He might never recover. So honor the God in him.”
Then Grandmother dropped a feather for the women and the Buffalo,
And it drifted on the night air to the campfires down below.
It was floating above the bed where I lay weeping in the dark.
I said, “Grandmother, where is that feather?”
She said, “It is in your heart.”
Cave hand is in Belize, National Geographic
Then and Now*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
Candles burning, women singing, up the spiral stair,
Hear the tinkling of the water; Mother Earth is here.
Balance, all in balance….
Came the soldiers, came the Romans, burning everything,
Slit my throat after they raped me, left me by the spring.
Frozen, we were frozen.
And a car rumbles down through this little desert town
At dusk
And the radio…
Is Spirit real?
Many dark and lonely winters filled that sacred cave
Women dreaming, soldiers screaming, lost in hate.
Waiting, we were waiting….
‘Til I looked over my shoulder and what did I see?
The young man who took my body, staring down at me.
Crying, he was crying.
Like Osiris in reverse, reclaiming Isis sweet,
Breathed his breath into me, laying jewels at my feet,
Ceremony…
Now the women and the soldiers move again in time,
Living out our lives, we are shining.
Healing, we are healing,
And a car rumbles down through this little desert town….
Faith is how we learn to remember other dimensions….
Ocotillo, Barrel Cactus, Creosote, Mesquite,
Yucca, Four-Winged Saltbrush, Agave,
Oh, Datura…
Rattlesnake, Grasshopper, Fox, Coyote, Spadefoot Toad,
Tortoise and Tarantula, Dung Beetle,
Mountain Lion,
And the Rain trickles down, making ripples through the Ground,
To the River and the Sea, to the River and the Sea, to the River and the Sea…
Truth or Consequences, New Mexico*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
In a rocky desert bowl
Cactus blooms in red and gold.
Water trickles through a hole,
Through a hole in time.
Ancient Ones are gathered here
Dances of the Universe
Rising on the morning air,
Rising from the springs.
Stars shine down on trailer parks,
Coyotes wail and town dogs bark,
Mountains list’ning in the dark,
Listening to the springs.
In this dusty desert town
There are those who guard the Springs,
There are those who hold the dream,
Humble though they seem.
Warrior of the Earth*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
I came alive in the Cascade mountains.
They taught me how to sing my song.
I know the sound of the rippling forest,
I know the feel of live ground.
And when they come to cut the forest,
The cut my heart, they cut my flesh.
I don’t know how to hold my sorrow.
I hold the memory....
CHORUS:
I know the forest in the dawn,
I know the silver river’s song.
Though they cut the forest
down and I may have to walk alone,
Still the Earth will be my power,
For I know where I belong.
I am a warrior of the Earth,
I have the mountains in my heart.
I am become a warrior of the Earth.
My heart is pledged to heal her.
I’ll walk the mountains and the cities,
Teaching the people to hear her.
Water Song*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
Water, water everywhere,
Gracing hills and valleys fair.
Water for the fields and trees,
And some for you and me.
Water, water, everywhere,
Cleans the earth and cleans the air,
Water for the fields and trees
And some for you and me.
photo from www.forestwander.com
Wild Things*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
I wrote this song on Hardesty Mountain, a wild Oregon roadless area east of Eugene, Oregon. This wild place did not make it into the 1984 federal Wilderness Act.
Lyrics:
He said, “I saw a cougar
On the ridge last night at evenin’
I was lucky I was walkin’ in the light
Where I could see him
“Cause my dog was in the bushes
And he slipped right past my dog.”
CHORUS:
Oh, wild things,
Where do you go?
I will find you in the mountains
Where the crystal waters flow.
I walked out in the forest
In the colors of the evening
I sat down among the leaves where I could
Hear the birds a-singing
And I listened for a rustle
In this animal home.
CHORUS
Woman by the Bay*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
Oh, I know a woman who lives by the bay,
And soft in the dawn, when the world’s silver-gray,
She comes to the water, and sings with the waves,
Oh, she sings to the mountains and rivers.
I have a memory, and it does not fade,
I walk down the river and out to the sea,
and I am the water and I am the sky
and I am a bird that is flying.
You were there for me*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
When I was down,
I came to you,
My heart was raw from crying.
Your firs and cedars sheltered me
You made me feel like trying.
I know I am a part of earth,
And you are spirit, too;
Oh, you were there for me,
And I’ll be there for you.
Sometimes when I am far away,
I am afraid to come,
Afraid that I will come to you
And I will find you gone,
That I will find a logging crew
Is tearing into you.
Oh, you were there for me,
And I’ll be there for you.
So I will write my Congressman,
I’ll speak to those in power.
But when it comes the time to stand,
It comes the final hour,
Ah, when the men are moving in
I will be there with you.
Oh, you were there for me,
And I’ll be there for you.
You’ve got the Power*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
Well, you’ve got the power
To make things right.
It’s gonna take a whole lot of people lovin’ just to bring the Light--
And I believe, ‘cause I know it’s true
That the future of the world depends on what you do.
Well, you’ve got the power
To heal the Earth.
You’ve got the power to live in peace with your own heart.
But you’ve got to listen to the truth
Because living in the truth is our heart’s desire.
And I know that you are my brother and sister
And I know that we are the same.
We are creatures born in Nature who’ve forgotten why we came--
And we speak with different voices
And we all have different names
But we’re all part of One Being just the same.
The Healing
written by Haruhuani Spruce
I was riding across the prairie in a landscape of my dream
As the sunlight was slowly fading, there were red hills I could see.
Ten thousand women on horseback, from five directions they rods
Among the riders, fast approaching, strode a million Buffalo.
The council fires were burning brightly as we spoke our hearts in prayer
But we could not find the answer to the quest that brought us here.
We were searching for the healing between the women and the men
For we knew that when we can heal this, then the Buffalo can come again.
Then we looked up and saw Grandfather, with Grandmother at his side.
He said, "Remember the men and women from a distant ancient time.
We men were hunters and protectors or the Spirit of the tribe,
And our women were not our property. No, the women guard the Spirit of new life."
Then spoke my Grandmother, and her voice was soft but firm.
" Oh, his mother has betrayed him, and he's afraid to let you in.
If he should open up his heart to you and be betrayed again
He might never recover. So honor the God in him."
Then Grandmother dropped a feather for the women and the Bufflo
And it drifted on the night air to the campfires down below.
It was floating above the bed where I lay weeping in the dark.
I said, "Grandmother, where is that feather?"
She said, "It is in your heart."
Titles are arranged in alphabetical order
A River is a Being*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
A river is a Being
Singing songs to the Earth of its life
And a river is a wild thing
When you tame it, it starts to die
Now the rivers once ran silver
From the mountains down to the sea
It's the logging, the dams, and the sewage
That make these sluggish brown streams
A Song for the Spiritual Journey*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
Funny how the heart can see things
Far, far away.
But I can see you in that way.
It's amazing, hearts can feel things I can't say.
And I can feel you every day.
I am a lonely one, I get lost in fear.
The warmth of a thousand suns cannot melt one bitter tear.
Yet on some distant planet, somewhere out in space
The light of your loving heart is shining on my face.
Underneath these costumes we wear there are hearts.
Feeling lost and lonely, beating, missing parts.
Underneath these costumes we wear there are stars.
Bringing forth the Heart of Being, singing Love.
But why is the melody so faint and thin?
My memories are failing me, my vision growing dim.
Out here on this journey my old ways don't work anymore.
I can't see the road ahead; I shall have to use my heart.
All Is Welcome Here*
Written by Deva Premal & Miten. I learned it from my good friend Neal Apple, who sings it so beautifully. Jonathan Veenker on piano.
Lyrics
Broken hearts and broken wings
Bring it all and everything
And bring the song you fear to sing
All is welcome here
Even if you broke your vow a thousand times
Come anyhow
We’re stepping into the power of now
And all is welcome here
See the father and the son
Reunited here they come
Dancing to the sacred drum
They know they’re welcome here
I see the shaman
And the mighty Priest
See the beauty and the beast
Singing I have been released
And I am welcome here
I stood alone at the gateless gate
Too drunk on love to hesitate
To the winds I cast my fate
And the remnants of my fear
I took a deep breath and I leapt
And I awoke as if I’d never slept
Tears of gratitude I wept
I was welcome here
So bring your laughter
And bring your tears
Your busy lives and your careers
And bring the pain you
carried for years
All is welcome here
Freedom is not so far away
And there’s only one price
We have to pay
Live our dreams till they fade away
And let them go.
America, Pacific NW*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
My body came from the soils that lie
Near the great San Francisco Bay;
Now I live on the banks of a sparkling stream
Up in Oregon, 500 miles away.
As I sit by the river, and smell the woods,
As I know this land of my birth,
Then I know that my love for America
Is the same as my love for the Earth.
My mother grew in the sun and the rain
Of the wide Oklahoma plain,
And my father’s father and mother came
On a boat from Poland, half a world away.
When I walk on the beach and I feel the wind....
Long may this land roll beneath the sky,
May her forest grow wild and green.
May her streams run clear from her mountainsides,
May she sing, America, forever free.
Bird Song*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
Listen to the bird’s song.
Where have all the birds gone?
Fallen with the mighty trees.
Strange, unhuman voice I hear,
Softly falling on my ear,
Teach me how to understand,
I, who sing these songs of man.
Blockade Song*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
Oh, the trees they do grow tall
And the valleys they grown green
All in the shade of a summer’s afternoon--
The people came with a trembling in our hearts,
For we meant to stop the bulldozers.
Shul, schul, schul a-roo,
The forest is our own true love,
So we will stand beside her now,
‘Til the jails are overflowin’.
We climbed up on
That new-cut loggin’ road.
We joined our hands and sang our songs,
And for a moment, the truth was in the world--
For a moment, we stopped the bulldozer.
Bones*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
This is not Native American. It is native me. It is also the only song I ever wrote in Iowa, where the Eastern Forest meets the Great North American Plains.
Lyrics:
There's a singing in the Forest
I have heard it all my life.
Ah, the tears and the laughter
It's the song of Earth.
It was singing in the morning on the day that I was born
It will be singing in the twilight
When I am gone.
Ayaah! Creatures in the trees
Ayaah! Creatures in the weed
Ah, the Wonder.
There's a singing across the Prairie
It is hissing through the grass
It's the song of the
glaciers
Sung by Roots of Plants.
You can plow us, you can pave us,
You can poison every stream.
We remain forever on the Land,
In dreams.
Oh, Mother of the Seasons,
Should I fall beneath the Snow,
Let the warm rays of Summer
Bleach my bones.
Chicago*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
We drove the freeway through the dirty town,
Bringing our environmental show
To the Chicago Academy of Sciences,
To plead for the wildlands of the world.
When I sang, the young museum director took the stage.
He spoke of how Chicago used to be.
And when the lights came up, he found me at the T-shirt table.
He said, “There’s something upstairs you’ll want to see.”
And he led me past the velvet ropes, up marble stairs,
To the life-sized diorama display.
And through the darkened halls of the great museum,
I saw the land of Illinois when she was free.
She wore her wildness like a silver gown,
That moved across the forest as she breathed;
Her gentle woodland marshes fingered down
To her shining sea.
I saw moose and wild turkey, walking unafraid
Through the many-flowered prairie grass.
I saw a cougar nurse her babies in a shale ravine
Where the ferns caught drops of water ...through the glass...
In the morning, on the Interstate, the sky hung brown
Over flat and empty miles of sterile corn,
But as we rolled on toward Missouri, when I closed my eyes,
I could see the woodland prairie ... reborn.
She wore her wildness like a sliver gown,
That moved across the forest as she breathed,
And as she lives on in Earth’s sweet memory,
So she is to me.
Colors of My Soul*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
# Partial lyrics:
Chorus:
These are the colors of my soul,
Red and green, blue and yellow
Strong and true, strong and true
Older than the mountains,
Fresh and new.
When the morning, when the Sun
Comes streaming
All the world, all the world Is new
And the hope that arises within each
Living thing.
Chorus
1:34
Hate is rising from the .. moon
In you soft embrace I
I am there, I am truly there
Chorus
2:36
Silver star upon a sea of
Silver planets traveling through space
In the sightings of the darkest universe
All is one, all may be at peace.
Chorus
Country Song*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
Someday I’m going to move out in the country.
Think I’ve had enough of city ways.
I’m going where the owlet sings at evening,
And the wind comes rushing through my days.
I’m going where the world is living green,
Going where the seasons keep the time.
You’ll find me on the banks of a clear rushing stream,
Listening softly to the music of the pines.
In springtime, I’ll go out among the flowers,
Plant corn and tomatoes in the dirt.
I’ll walk the hills and woodlands hours and hours,
Just listening to the breathing of the Earth.
In summer, I’ll go swimming in the river,
Make apple pies and jellies in the fall.
And a crackling fire and crystal nights of winter
May be the highest, clearest times of all.
Cummins Creek*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
Cummins Creek, take me down, take me down the water where
Waters run bright and clear--
Giant trees spread their branches along by Cummins Creek,
Sheltering elk and deer.
Eagles fly in heaven, very much like heaven
To me.
And if you sit softly down, softly down by Cummins Creek,
You can remember when...
When the world, once the world was alive, a wilder place,
Far from the ways of men.
You can feel it again.
So take me down, softly down by Cummins Creek,
I can feel it again.
National Geographic
Duet (The Dance of Duality)*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
Hear it in the wind, he cried
Hear it in the ocean,
Feel it in the burning flame
And in the Earth.
There’s a tale unfolding here
Tale of great Illusion
I shall find you there, my love.
And I shall bring you home.
Why should we go traveling?
Said his sweet companion
We are the power
That is now.
Let the Spirit flow through this moment
I am with you now, my love.
We are already home.
Chorus:
Earth and Air, and Fire and Water,
Shelter me, balance me,
And tell my story.
It is for the learning, dear,
We are the passion,
We are the dance, we are the Breath,
Every aspiration, every creature,
We are the Living Earth, my Love.
And I shall bring you home
I shall search the battle field,
In the grisly dungeons,
Through the walls of hatred
Love will shine.
Wandering through the night
We shall bring the Living Light
I shall find you there, my Love.
And I shall bring you home.
So they fly forever,
Like a giant bird they fly,
One wing of dark, and one of light.
Flying through the drama
of our lives here,
That is how it is, my love.
We are already home.
Chorus
Eyes of Man*
By Melanie Salfka, adapted by Haruhuani Spruce
Thank you, Melanie, for this hauntingly beautiful song of the Wonder. I added another verse and perform it here.
This video is dedicated with love and compassion to Ed Meyerowitz, the man who showed the me entry into the magic of the Oregon Old Growth forest, and who first played this Melanie song for me.
Lyrics:
I was out walking early one morning
When I lived alone in the dunes.
As I remember it wasn't quite dawn and I could still see the full moon.
My senses told me that out in the silence
I might see or hear or touch the unknown,
But the sun was faster than I was, the magic
Had set and was all but gone.
CHORUS: Oh, Lord!
Let me see something never seen before by the eyes of man,
Let me see something never seen before by the eyes of man,
I think I saw a long time ago
Will I ever see again?
People saw a long time ago,
Will we ever see again?
Magic is the living fire that breathes a planet's soul.
Birds fly the continents, babies are born, and what do we think that we know?
CHORUS
Flowers in the Spring*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
# Partial lyrics:
See how the flowers in the spring
Open up again to the sun and to the rain
Soft petals floating in the sun and when it begins this day
I can feel the flowers, I can feel the sun
I can feel the flowers, I can feel the sun
All the flowers on this day
We must be stronger
Five million years before we came
all the flowers ???
Let me see something never seen before by the eyes of man,
Let me see something never seen before by the eyes of man,
I think I saw a long time ago
Will I ever see again?
People saw a long time ago,
Will we ever see again?
Magic is the living fire that breathes a planet's soul.
Birds fly the continents, babies are born, and what do we think that we know?
CHORUS
High in the Mountains*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
Spaces are wide high in the mountains,
Bright blue sky, flowers in the wind,
The Sawtooths rise at the head of the valley--
Naked Earth — strong like dreams.
Li, Li, high in the mountains,
Li, li, deep in dreams.
I dreamed I sang a song of the mountains...
I dreamed I sang a song of the rivers...
I dreamed I sang a song of the forest...
I dreamed I sang the healing.
I cast my dreams out on the mountain,
The mountains said, “We gave you dreams to dream.”
Home: Truth or Consequences, New Mexico*
Written by Karla Bonoff, adapted by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
Travelin’ at night down I-25
The lights fade out after Belen
And the pure desert night, stars
shinin’ bright
Welcomes me home again.
CHORUS:
And home sings me of sweet things
My life here has its own wings
Fly over the mountain
Though I’m standin’ still.
Ah, the people I’ve seen, they rush in between
The schedules of tiring life,
And the trains come and go but inside you know
The struggle will soon come to fight.
CHORUS
At the edge of the night, first morning light
Washes the desert land
And around the next bend, my
Turtleback friend
Beckons a rocky hand.
CHORUS
I Am*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
The light that shines though our everyday lives.
Lyrics:
I am the path across the water,
Crooked footsteps in the sand.
I cannot be bought or altered,
I Am, I Am, All That I Am….
I have been the lonely traveler,
I have been the wealthy merchant,
I have been the mother who
Has watched her children starve In the midst of plenty.
I Am, I Am
Faith comes rolling down the mountain
Shining through the waves of sadness,
Sold my brother into slavery
All for his house and land,
I Am, All That I Am….I Am.
I Don’t Know How to Love Him*
By Andrew Lloyd Webber, Jonathan Veenker, piano.
Lyrics:
I don’t know how to love him
What to do, how to move him
I’ve been changed, yes really changed
In these past few days
When I’ve seen myself
I seem like someone else
I don’t know how to take this
I don’t see why he moves me
He’s a man
He’s just a man
And I’ve had so many
Men before
In very many ways
He’s just one more
Should I bring him down
Should I scream and shout
Should I speak of love
Let my feelings out?
I never thought I’d come to this
What’s it all about?
Don’t you think it’s rather funny
I should be in this position?
I’m the one
Who’s always been
So calm so cool
No lover’s fool
Running every show
He scares me so I never thought I’d come to this
What’s it all about?
Yet if he said he loved me
I’d be lost
I’d be frightened
I couldn’t cope
Just couldn’t cope
I’d turn my head
I’d back away
I wouldn’t want to know
He scares me so
I want him so
I love him so
I Know a Tree*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
I know a tree whose old forest home
Is soon to be cow pasture,
Rural Residential--
He knows.
I told him, “The wild spirits they are all leaving.
The wild Earth is calling us home.” He said,
“I am not leaving.
I am not leaving”
He said, “I must stay to hold down the soil,
To hold in the water,
To nurture the land.
It was this I was born to, and it’s this I’ll do well,
Though I burn in the fires of the future.”
I told him, “Well, part of you’s coming with me.
It’s the part of you twined in my soul.
I’ll carry your memory safe to the homeland.
We’ll be together there soon.”
“Then part of you stays,” my good friend replied.
“For I now your spirit, your songs.
Your love it will linger, like a voice that will sing to me
After the forest is gone.
I am not leaving,
I am not leaving....”
I Shall Not Leave You (A Dark Time)*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
A dark time is coming to this land
And I must go away (all the spirits fly)
But I shall not leave you...
I will meet you in the sky-blue valley
And I will be your friend...
Idaho*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
Idaho, oh Idaho
I can hear your song in my bones,
I can hear your song.
Where the wealthy tourists go,
Places where they don’t belong,
Building garbage homes.
I believe they will be leaving soon
‘Cause the world they made is falling down.
Once I had a dream
Of wide open spaces
Then I saw them in your land.
Oh I saw your rivers
And wild mountain valleys
With snow upon the wind.
You know,
I can hear your freedom roll
Through your rocky soul,
Idaho–
We come and go.
Gila Cliff Dwellings, NM, photo by Haru Spruce
Light and Shadow *
Written by Haruhuani Spruce, Jonathan Veenker, piano
Lyrics:
Every creature of the light
Comes to birth through darkest night.
So the season’s circle dance
Describes the form of consciousness.
Light and shadow, Light and shadow
Breathing out and breathing in
Planting and then harvesting.
Good and bad entwine like snakes,
As our Mother flies through space.
Light and Shadow, Light and Shadow
In the circle of the heart
There is light and there is dark
Staying true to what we feel
We uncover what is real.
Light and shadow, Light and Shadow
Portrait by Matthew Veenker
Love Song*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
We’re a strange tribe, it seems,
Always standing in the shadows of our dreams,
And sometimes we don’t know what’s false or true--
We only have our hearts to use.
So we’ve gone our separate ways.
You keep fighting while I’m learning how to pray.
And I know I don’t seem like
I’m much use to you, the Earth prays too.
I really love you
And I don’t mind the pain.
I will be close to you
When you’re walking in the sun and the rain.
Fight the fight, play the game.
Don’t you think I ever want for you to change.
Your valiant heart will tell you what it wants to do.
I only want you to be true.
National Geographic
Love will Save the World*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
#
Message of Kozu*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce, Jonathan Veenker, piano
"Weaving tales through lifetimes."
Lyrics:
Come, let the fire die.
Stir the coals in the darkness,
Stir the Soul in the darkness.
Here at the edge of time,
Silence reigns in the darkness
See the flame in the Darkness.
Light from a distant star
Filters down through lifetimes
Lights the way through lifetimes.
Friends is what we are
Painting light and darkness
Weaving tales through lifetimes.
Here at the edge of time,
Here at the edge of time,
I will wait for you.
photo by Haru Spruce
Monticello Canyon*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
The Warm Springs Apache people consider the Monticello Box, the sheer canyon high on the Mogollon Rim in southern New Mexico, to the be place of their spiritual emergence.
The creek itself emerges out of the mountain as a warm springs in this high open place, then pours down the descent of the Mogollon Rim, heading for the Rio Grande.
This song is to honor the canyon, the Springs, Spirit, the Earth.
Lyrics:
There’s a place of the Soul’s emergence
In the mountains so high,
Water gushes from the mountains
Underneath New Mexico sky.
And the voices of the Elders
Echo sweetly on the wind,
Walk in peace, Monticello Canyon,
Honor all, that all may live.
Flowing down through sheer rock canyons,
Ribbon of green, river of Life,
Flowing steady through the seasons,
Offering all the gift of life.
Thunder’s rolling down the canyon,
Hawk is soaring on the wind,
Walk in peace, Monticello Canyon,
Honor all, that all may live.
My Soul Is Dancing*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce with Rahmana Wiest backup vocals, Dan Rhiger, guitar.
Lyrics:
Pelican, elegant,
Spread your brown and slender wings
Above the wave and then
You dive
Into
The water.
A silky seal pokes his head
Up through the wave
And then he rolls–
The shiny Fisherman
Is dancin’
On the
Water.
Little bird, fly,
Cutting crazy patterns
On the foam
Against the sky
Your soul is dancin’
On the
Water.
My soul is dancing!
My soul is dancing!
October wind is in my hair
Sunshine fills the salt spray air
And I am dancing…
On the rocks…
Landlubber on the
Water!
My soul is dancing!
My soul is dancing!
My soul is dancing
On the water.
My Sweet Oregon Home*
Written and performed by Haruhuani Spruce, with Rahmana Wiest, backup vocals, George Shook, mandocello, and Michael Cooper, guitar
Lyrics:
There’s a sweet and virgin land,
There’s a sweet and virgin land,
I know because I have been there.
Flowers blooming by the sea
Moves a place inside of me–
Wild Earth and wild sea, and clean air.
It’s my sweet Oregon home,
Where the bear and the Elk still can roam.
Oh, take care of my Oregon home
“Cause it’s worth more than gold.
Mountain valleys white with snow,
Forest deep and green below,
Secrets of Nature you’ll find there.
If you learn to love the land,
Learn to leave it as it stands
You can find true peace of mind there.
It’s my sweet Oregon home,
It’s my sweet Oregon home,
There is peace in this Oregon land
That is worth more than gold.
Memories of ancient trees
Linger on in city streets,
Cascades and wild glades in sweet dreams.
But there’s a wild and virgin land,
Yes, a sweet and virgin land
These are the lands that we must save.
So don’t log off my Oregon home!
Don’t spray the hills of my Oregon home!
Don’t drill of the shores of my Oregon home!
Can’t you leave it alone?
It’s my sweet Oregon home….
Oh California*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
I’ll sing you a song of a land that is dying,
A song of the waves, and the rocks, and the wind.
I’ll sing the sweet song of the great norther Redwoods,
A song of a time that will not come again.
Oh, California, your dark norther forest
Were treasures more precious than silver or gold.
Oh, California, the wild rolling ocean
Still speaks to the spirit that once was your soul.
Light filters green, down through branches and branches-
Ferns nestle soft at the feet of the trees.
The bear and the owl rest beside the clear water,
And I, in the forest, am deeply at peace.
Rain drizzles down on the bare, ruined hillside.
The wind pulls and tears at the trees that remain.
Oh, who, California, has fostered this madness?
And when will your lovely dark hills come again?
Oregon Rain*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
With great love for the Oregon Forest.
Lyrics:
As I walked out in the Oregon rain
The creeks were running like rivers
The peace of winter had come to the land
And the sky was all hung with silver.
The rain dripped down on the tall Douglas Firs,
The moss was glistening and gleaming
The red leaves lay like a coat on the ground
And the little brown birds were singing.
Give thanks for the rivers and wild rushing streams
That wash the land bright and clean
Give thanks for the music that laughs on the hills,
And give thanks for the Oregon rain
Out Beyond*
Lyrics for chorus adapted from Rumi, lyrics and music for verses by Terry Yazzolino and Daniel Rhiger with adaptation by Haru Spruce.
Please listen to Dan Rhiger and Rahmana Weist performing this song. They are Sky In The Road.
Lyrics:
Chorus:
Out beyond ideas of right and wrong
There is a field– I’ll take you there.
And we shall let the beauty we love
Be what we dare.
In this world we are born
Beneath the sky we pray.
We have the knowing that we are One
Beneath this Passion Play.
CHORUS:
Drunk with love, I let my aces fall.
This flame that burns me, makes me whole-
I am the lover of All That Is,
One Heart, One Breath, One Soul.
Rain*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
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Red Hair*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
The King and his men came riding, riding over the hill,
Lances forward, banners flying, ready to kill.
Storming the castle wall, to capture the Maid within.
They rode into the silence of the Great Chamber Hall.
To their chagrin they found nobody at all!
Smoke and mirrors, confusion did reign,
And they were dumped out at the bottom of the hill.
She watches the Moon and the Sun,
Creatures of the Forest, she knows every one,
She watches the red-haired King
And she takes his measure well.
The King lay in the moon light in the camp of his men.
In his heart he heard a voice so plain.
She said, “Meet me in the dawning in my Garden green,
And lay your weapons down.”
The morning mist was rising as he opened the gate.
His face was soft, his eyes were soft, and open his heart.
And there among the growing things he felt her love,
But he could not see her there.
She waits between the night and the day,
Looking down on his beautiful face,
Layers and layers of Earthly cares,
No he could not linger there.
And then out of the mist appeared a red, red Rose.
He laid it on the grass where he felt her the most,
And she gave him a ribbon, a silver cord,
And he pressed it to his heart.
Silver Moon Forest Dance*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
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The Beetle (Time in the Forest)*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
It has taken me over twenty years to really know that for me, the Work alluded to by the Beetle, is spiritual.
Of all the songs I've written, this one has influenced me the most. Recently I have heard: The reason why it looks like the great ecosystems of the Earth are leaving...is because they are leaving. and No thing dies until it is time for it to go.
Lyrics:
I talked to a Beetle,
I talked to a Beetle,
We spoke of the nature,
We spoke of the nature of Time,
Time, Time in the Forest,
Time, time,
Time in the Forest.
He swayed on a fern frond
high over my head
Like a little green tank.
“I am ancient,” he said.
This is time, time,
Time in the Forest,
Time, time,
Time in the forest.
Through liquid green sunlight
Tall trees spread their branches,
A creek softly singing
A song of this moment in
Time, time,
Time in the Forest,
Time, time,
Time in the forest.
I confessed, “I am longing
To talk to the Creatures,
To learn all their secrets!”
He said, “There’s no
Time, time,
Time in the Forest,
Time. Time,
Time in the forest.
It’s time just to work for to save all the Forest!
To work for to save us…
Although…they destroy us.
It’s time, time
Time in the Forest,
Time, time,
Time in the Forest
No time, no time,
NO TIME, NO TIME
It’s time.
The Day the Forest Died*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
Well, some sat in their offices
And they worked on their reports
While others cruised the woods in shiny vehicles--
And none of them suspected,
And none broke down and cried
The day the forest died.
But I was in the forest
Underneath the trees,
And I heard it on the wind that passed between us--
“The wilderness is broken, and you know it’s time to flee,
Oh, listen for the signs from the Four Directions....”
But some sat in their offices
And they worked up timber sales,
And they counted all the money that was due them.
And none of them suspected
That the coffers would run dry
On the day the forest died.
National Geographic
The Healing*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
I was riding across the prairie in a landscape of my dream
As the sunlight was slowly fading over red hills I could see.
Ten thousand women on horseback, from four directions they rode,
Among the riders, fast approaching, strode a million Buffalo.
The council fires were burning brightly as we spoke our hearts in prayer
But we could not find the answer to the quest that brought us here.
We were searching for the healing between the women and the men
For we knew that when we can heal this
Then the Buffalo will come again.
Then we looked up and saw Grandfather with Grandmother by his side.
He said, “Remember the men and women from a distant, ancient time
The men were hunters and protectors of the spirit of the tribe
And the women were not their property, no, the women were their lives.
Then spoke my Grandmother in a voice both soft and firm,
“Oh, his mother has betrayed him, and he’s afraid to let you in.
If he should open up his heart to you, and be betrayed again,
He might never recover. So honor the God in him.”
Then Grandmother dropped a feather for the women and the Buffalo,
And it drifted on the night air to the campfires down below.
It was floating above the bed where I lay weeping in the dark.
I said, “Grandmother, where is that feather?”
She said, “It is in your heart.”
Cave hand is in Belize, National Geographic
Then and Now*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
Candles burning, women singing, up the spiral stair,
Hear the tinkling of the water; Mother Earth is here.
Balance, all in balance….
Came the soldiers, came the Romans, burning everything,
Slit my throat after they raped me, left me by the spring.
Frozen, we were frozen.
And a car rumbles down through this little desert town
At dusk
And the radio…
Is Spirit real?
Many dark and lonely winters filled that sacred cave
Women dreaming, soldiers screaming, lost in hate.
Waiting, we were waiting….
‘Til I looked over my shoulder and what did I see?
The young man who took my body, staring down at me.
Crying, he was crying.
Like Osiris in reverse, reclaiming Isis sweet,
Breathed his breath into me, laying jewels at my feet,
Ceremony…
Now the women and the soldiers move again in time,
Living out our lives, we are shining.
Healing, we are healing,
And a car rumbles down through this little desert town….
Faith is how we learn to remember other dimensions….
Ocotillo, Barrel Cactus, Creosote, Mesquite,
Yucca, Four-Winged Saltbrush, Agave,
Oh, Datura…
Rattlesnake, Grasshopper, Fox, Coyote, Spadefoot Toad,
Tortoise and Tarantula, Dung Beetle,
Mountain Lion,
And the Rain trickles down, making ripples through the Ground,
To the River and the Sea, to the River and the Sea, to the River and the Sea…
Truth or Consequences, New Mexico*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
In a rocky desert bowl
Cactus blooms in red and gold.
Water trickles through a hole,
Through a hole in time.
Ancient Ones are gathered here
Dances of the Universe
Rising on the morning air,
Rising from the springs.
Stars shine down on trailer parks,
Coyotes wail and town dogs bark,
Mountains list’ning in the dark,
Listening to the springs.
In this dusty desert town
There are those who guard the Springs,
There are those who hold the dream,
Humble though they seem.
Warrior of the Earth*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
I came alive in the Cascade mountains.
They taught me how to sing my song.
I know the sound of the rippling forest,
I know the feel of live ground.
And when they come to cut the forest,
The cut my heart, they cut my flesh.
I don’t know how to hold my sorrow.
I hold the memory....
CHORUS:
I know the forest in the dawn,
I know the silver river’s song.
Though they cut the forest
down and I may have to walk alone,
Still the Earth will be my power,
For I know where I belong.
I am a warrior of the Earth,
I have the mountains in my heart.
I am become a warrior of the Earth.
My heart is pledged to heal her.
I’ll walk the mountains and the cities,
Teaching the people to hear her.
Water Song*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
Water, water everywhere,
Gracing hills and valleys fair.
Water for the fields and trees,
And some for you and me.
Water, water, everywhere,
Cleans the earth and cleans the air,
Water for the fields and trees
And some for you and me.
photo from www.forestwander.com
Wild Things*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
I wrote this song on Hardesty Mountain, a wild Oregon roadless area east of Eugene, Oregon. This wild place did not make it into the 1984 federal Wilderness Act.
Lyrics:
He said, “I saw a cougar
On the ridge last night at evenin’
I was lucky I was walkin’ in the light
Where I could see him
“Cause my dog was in the bushes
And he slipped right past my dog.”
CHORUS:
Oh, wild things,
Where do you go?
I will find you in the mountains
Where the crystal waters flow.
I walked out in the forest
In the colors of the evening
I sat down among the leaves where I could
Hear the birds a-singing
And I listened for a rustle
In this animal home.
CHORUS
Woman by the Bay*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
Oh, I know a woman who lives by the bay,
And soft in the dawn, when the world’s silver-gray,
She comes to the water, and sings with the waves,
Oh, she sings to the mountains and rivers.
I have a memory, and it does not fade,
I walk down the river and out to the sea,
and I am the water and I am the sky
and I am a bird that is flying.
You were there for me*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
When I was down,
I came to you,
My heart was raw from crying.
Your firs and cedars sheltered me
You made me feel like trying.
I know I am a part of earth,
And you are spirit, too;
Oh, you were there for me,
And I’ll be there for you.
Sometimes when I am far away,
I am afraid to come,
Afraid that I will come to you
And I will find you gone,
That I will find a logging crew
Is tearing into you.
Oh, you were there for me,
And I’ll be there for you.
So I will write my Congressman,
I’ll speak to those in power.
But when it comes the time to stand,
It comes the final hour,
Ah, when the men are moving in
I will be there with you.
Oh, you were there for me,
And I’ll be there for you.
You’ve got the Power*
Written by Haruhuani Spruce
Lyrics:
Well, you’ve got the power
To make things right.
It’s gonna take a whole lot of people lovin’ just to bring the Light--
And I believe, ‘cause I know it’s true
That the future of the world depends on what you do.
Well, you’ve got the power
To heal the Earth.
You’ve got the power to live in peace with your own heart.
But you’ve got to listen to the truth
Because living in the truth is our heart’s desire.
And I know that you are my brother and sister
And I know that we are the same.
We are creatures born in Nature who’ve forgotten why we came--
And we speak with different voices
And we all have different names
But we’re all part of One Being just the same.
The Healing
written by Haruhuani Spruce
I was riding across the prairie in a landscape of my dream
As the sunlight was slowly fading, there were red hills I could see.
Ten thousand women on horseback, from five directions they rods
Among the riders, fast approaching, strode a million Buffalo.
The council fires were burning brightly as we spoke our hearts in prayer
But we could not find the answer to the quest that brought us here.
We were searching for the healing between the women and the men
For we knew that when we can heal this, then the Buffalo can come again.
Then we looked up and saw Grandfather, with Grandmother at his side.
He said, "Remember the men and women from a distant ancient time.
We men were hunters and protectors or the Spirit of the tribe,
And our women were not our property. No, the women guard the Spirit of new life."
Then spoke my Grandmother, and her voice was soft but firm.
" Oh, his mother has betrayed him, and he's afraid to let you in.
If he should open up his heart to you and be betrayed again
He might never recover. So honor the God in him."
Then Grandmother dropped a feather for the women and the Bufflo
And it drifted on the night air to the campfires down below.
It was floating above the bed where I lay weeping in the dark.
I said, "Grandmother, where is that feather?"
She said, "It is in your heart."