Lyrics
Ooh Ooh ah Mmm High among the ash trees Ooh
I was born where the white trunks Climb beyond the morning rain In a hollow carved by winter In a tree that knew no name
A hundred years of thunder A hundred summers spared Made a home above the gullies For the ones who said they cared
The ones who said they cared
They came beneath my branches With their banners held up high They painted me an emblem For the cameras passing by
They spoke of my protection Like a blessing they had shared Then drove away the people Who had always worked up there
They saved my name on paper Saved your name on paper Put a border round my air Round your air
Then locked the gates behind them And called abandonment care
Oh the ones who said they loved me Never listened to the trees They silenced all the engines Then called the silence peace
They wore me on their banners They spoke my name in prayer But left me to the lightning The ones who said they cared
The ones who said they cared
Down below the yards lie empty Rust is gathering on the chains There are saplings through the workshops Grass is climbing through the drains
The dozers left the district The old hands disappeared And the tracks that crossed the ridges Fade a little every year
They said the forest needed Only distance law and time As though fire read the statutes As though smoke obeyed a sign
But the bark keeps drying slowly And the litter gathers there While the wind rehearses softly For the day it strips the air
They saved my face for posters Saved your face for posters They praised the world they spared The world they said they spared
But a promise cannot hold a flame Or climb a ridge prepared
Oh the ones who said they loved me Never listened to the trees They silenced all the engines Then called the silence peace
They wore me on their banners They spoke my name in prayer But left me to the lightning The ones who said they cared
Mmm The ridge is dry tonight Ooh ah Ooh ah
Now the wind comes through the timber Hot and hollow from the north And a spark falls in the bracken Where the old road once ran forth
There is smoke below the canopy There is thunder in the leaves There is no court on the mountain No decree the fire believes
Where are the hands that knew the crossings Where are the blades that cut the line Where are the men who read the gullies Before the smoke could climb
You sent them from the forest You told the world you cared Now the red light fills the hollow And there is no one there
I do not know your slogans I do not know your laws I only know the old tree And the smoke beneath my claws
I only know the heat now And the young I cannot bear Through a sky turned black by promises From the ones who said they cared
Oh the ones who said they loved me Never listened to the trees They silenced all the engines Then called the silence peace
They wore me on their banners They spoke my name in prayer But when the mountain started burning There was no one left up there
No one left to hold the line No one left who knew the air
They saved my name on paper But the paper caught the flare They made me their proud emblem The ones who said they cared
The ones who said they cared The ones who said they cared
High above the blackened gully Where the morning once came fair There is silence in the hollow And smoke upon the air
Ooh Ooh ah Mmm