AS LONG AS THE GRASS SHALL GROW
by Twilo Scofield, 1977
Sung by Sally and John Ashford
From a live "Apple Jam" concert in Olympia, WA on Sept. 9th, 1978
As long as the sun will shine
As long as the rivers may flow
As long as the moon will rise
And as long as the grass shall grow
We first knew you as the feeble tree
That needed a place to grow
We could have trod you under our feet
But we taught you the ways that we know
Good words and broken promises
You gave us and we trusted you
You came to live in peace you said
And that’s all that we wanted too
As long as the sun will shine…
You lit our lodges for your campfires
In the ashes left dust and blood
We thought half our land would satisfy you
But we found out that it never would
You left us like birds with broken wings
All scattered like stones on the ground
But in silent fields and pathless woods
Our dreams and our spirits are found
As long as the sun will shine…
For we have known when the forests were free
And the wind spirits roamed our land
And everything that we needed for life
We took with a gentle hand
Now the sky is round and the earth is round
And the sun and the stars and the moon
The seasons all move in a circle too
And our spring will come again soon
As long as the sun will shine…
From Washington Songs and Lore – Linda Allen, p.119: “Twilo Scofield wrote ‘As Long As The Grass Shall Grow’ in 1977 after reading Touch the Earth by T. C. McLuhan. The book contains speeches given by Native American tribal leaders. The verses are paraphrased from speeches given by Nez Perce Chief Joseph, Red Jacket of the Seneca, Ten Bears of the Comanche, Seattle of the Duwamish, and Dan George, hereditary chief of the Coast Salish, among others.” Twilo Scofield, the granddaughter of an Oregon homesteader, a teacher of folklore, musician and author, lives in Eugene, OR.