by Daniel Kelly – 2024
G C G I stood at the foot of a giant tree, D Looked up to its crown, G C As it looked down at me. C Two thousand years old, G D And a hundred feet tall, C G D G And I felt so small in its shadow. I floated the Franklin in a tiny boat, Tossed by the current, And barely afloat, Ancient stone rose, Around every bend, And I drank in the cool of its shadow, C G D G Stone and water, moss and tree, C G C D I’m part of them as they are of me, C G I’ll fight for their right, D G To live and let be, C G D G Though all the world seek to destroy them I sat in the halls of democracy, And I spoke up to power, As it looked down on me, In State and in Capital, I spoke truth to them all, And I refused to hide in their shadow, I’ve stood at the front of the protest line, For tree and for river, And peace in our time, And many a day, I’ve been led to a cell, But I always emerge from the shadow. I sit at the foot of a giant tree, Looked up to its crown, As it looks down at me. And though I am old, I can still hear the call, and the millions who march in my shadow.