We grew up in cellophane, neon cereals, tanning cathode rays We were rinsed in pesticide, bleached with aspartame, antiseptic play
You could tell from our soft feet We were strangers to the land And you could tell from our clean clothes that we were petrified of dirt and plants and sand
Take me out to the forest Roll me in the soil, let me smell the earth Paint my face with berries Stuff them in my mouth 'til my stomach bursts
And when the brambles shred my skin I bleed a red that shows the life within And the blackberry stains on my hands Are not from a lab, no they come from the land
We are flailing in these waves: radio and sound, riptide gamma rays Coughing up zeroes and ones, gurgling through machines, electronic embrace
Take me down to the river Dunk me underneath, let me taste the clay We'll lose our shoes in the mudflats Seeping through our toes, grabbing at our legs
When the brambles shred my skin I bleed a red that shows the life within And the blackberry stains on my hands Don't come from an ad, no they come from the land
Our kids stumble through the haze, carbon thunderheads, toasting UV rays They know a world concrete and gray, free from any green, sanitized and paved So each morning when you rise, rub your hands against the dirt And for that day, my child, you'll shed your fear of the earth
And when the brambles shred your skin You'll bleed a red that shows the life within And the blackberry stains on your hands Are not from a lab, no they come from the land
I woke up on Cannon Beach, salt upon my face, seaweed in my hands Waves kept washing over me, urging I come home, come home to the land