Olive Tree

Long ago in a Mediterranean land
There was a king, only one man
And his crookedest friends, that's where the story could end
You worked every day in a field full of stones
The bounty was laid at the feet of the thrones
That were mountains away, many days and mountains away

But out of the earth, that never gave you anything free
Came the fruit on the branch from the olive tree
There's oil for your lamps, you can see by their light
So I'll teach you to read, I'll teach you to write
Under an olive tree, under an olive tree

Aristotle walked away from the walls
Wandered from Plato's academy halls
He was putting his trust
In the total of all of us
Out on a peripatetical mission
Challenging all take a position
A logic of sorts, a way to learn in the back and the forth

And in the heart of the land
From near and from far, you could be one of them
You'd choose a black or white stone
Then go to the hill, there's a council to vote
Under an olive tree, under an olive tree

While the self-appointed tyrants try to tear it all apart
The olive tree grows in the light of a bright and constant star
We're printing our books, we're pressing the fruit
In the light of the sun and coming up from the roots

It's 10:45 and I'm thinking about
Civilization, the moon has come out
For these strangers and friends
A party of strangers and friends

All of these arguments everyone makes
Discussing the planet, discussing the state
Of the government
All of these strangers and friends

It's like we have returned to that hill
But there are more of us now, and the circle is widening still
In the back and the forth, it's like we're holding a trust
Like we know that we count, like something's counting on us

And I hear all these voices rise up like an offering
We're a part it all, when no one promised us anything
And this is my world, it's the air that I breathe
This most enlightened of groves, this most sacred of trees

California, back in 1913
Professors came up Berkeley
They'd studied the dirt
Planting olive trees in the earth
Collegial friends, hopeful and patient
No chemicals needed and no irrigation
They were planting their trust
In the future of all of us

As they watered each sapling tree
They'd stop and look up to see what their children would see
They'd come to the hill, the trees would be here
They'll continue to grow over one thousand years

And I need you here, under an olive tree
Under an olive tree, under an olive tree