Nahnah's Garden
-Lyrics-

Medicine Wheel

Chop down the trees. Lay down the pavement.

Leave it to someone else to make the payments.

Split the atom. Light up the night.

Keep half the world in a state of fright.

But you know that things will never get better

Till we learn to walk in sacred manner.

Find our place on the Medicine Wheel,

Give up the fight and begin to heal.

Don't take my guns. Don't take my cars.

I'm willing to walk, but not quite that far.

Take my sons. Take my daughters.

I won't be around to witness the slaughter.

I know that things will never get better

Until I learn to walk in a sacred manner.

Find my place on the Medicine Wheel,

Give up the fight and begin to heal.

Walk softly on Mother Earth.

Help her bring her children to birth.

Make peace with God's creation.

Respect the life of every nation.

For we know that things will finally get better

When we learn to walk in a sacred manner.

Find our place on the Medicine Wheel,

Give up the fight and begin to heal.

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Nahnah's Garden

When this old world looks tired and worn,

And nothing seems to fit.

It's time to go where hope is reborn,

And relax in Nahnah's Garden.

All the flowers grow where they will.

They just bloom where they're planted.

And the bees, in the hot summer air,

Make the songs for Nahnah's Garden.

Bare feet on the rich earth,

Bare souls seeking new birth,

Open hearts to an open sky,

Gales of laughter floating by.

When you're tired and you want to go home,

And you're not sure where that is,

Take a break from your journey alone.

And just rest in Nahnah's Garden.

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Paha Sapa
(c) 1996 by Michael F. Iott, BMI

Like a green cathedral rising From the dusty plains below

It's a good place to find lodge poles And where healing waters flow

It's sacred ground to the Kiowa, the Lakota and the Crow

Paha Sapa
Paha Sapa

The Wicasa Wakan climbs a mountain At the center of the world

And sees the nations in a Sacred Circle gathered down below And a flaming rainbow frames the Six Grandfathers' lodge door

And he weeps as he prays for the Nation's Hoop to be restored

Paha Sapa
Paha Sapa

Ah, but lately it's been turned into a stinking wasicus' hell With monuments to Custer and with Black Hills gold for sale

Have a mystic vision with a sacred whoreAt the Harney Peak Motel

Ah, Tunkashila, unce ma la yelo. Mitakuye oyasin.

Paha Sapa
Paha Sapa

They've carved four sacrilegious heads On a holy peak so tall

But it's like carving the face of Claudius Caesar On the Wailing Wall

And I pray I'll live to see the day those four stone faces fall

And Paha Sapa be restored as a blessing to us all

Paha Sapa

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Hey Rip

You've been a long time gone

But the world you left behind

Keeps spinning around

It's been a trip

A lot has gone down

And can't help but wonder

What you'd think

There've been wars

And rumors of wars

People killing people

For dubious cause

Still there's more people

Than there ever was before

Hardly any place

To be alone

Men have walked

Upon the moon

And satellites

Circling overhead

Selling water in bottles

'Cause the rivers

And the lakes are full of lead

Your descendents

Are scattered to wind

We keep in touch

Over the airwaves

We send email

Messages in space

And we rarely

See each other face to face

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Dancing (On the Devil's Head)

Dance in the sun

Dance in the rain

Dance away sorrow

Dance away pain

Till we Dance on the Devil's head

And only dancing remains

Lord of The Dance

Master of chance

Holy Minstrel

Teach us to dance

Till we Dance on the Devil's head

And only Dancing remains

No time for hatred

There's no time for greed

Nothing to fear

Because Dancing is all that I need

So, Dance in the sun

Dance in the rain

Dance away sorrow

Dance away pain

Till we Dance on the Devil's head

And only Dancing remains

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Theotokion
(c) 1993 by Michael Francis Iott, BMI

I am a Pilgrim, and I travel light.

Anywhere I go is my home.

With nothing to bind me and nothing behind

In solitude I'm never alone.

I commune the humble,

The meek and the troubled,

The outcast and homeless I know.

It's there I find shelter when the beasts of this life

Would strip the flesh from bones.

In a gilded cathedral a young mother weeps

For her son who died naked and cold.

And the whole congregation

Slept through the sermon

Ate bread, drank wine, and went home.

But the tears of the mother

Will somehow dissolve,

These hearts that are made out of stone.

And in some mystic vision

I see her embracing the earth

And all that it holds.

I am a pilgrim. I travel light.

Anywhere I go is my home.

With nothing to bind me and nothing behind,

In solitude I'm never alone.

But the tears of the mother

Will somehow dissolve

This heart that is made out of stone.

And I run to her arms

Like a child that is frightened
And she gives me her body to hold.

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Shenandoah

Traditional: Arranged by Michael F. Iott, BMI

Oh, Shenandoah, I long to hear you.
Away, you rolling river!
Oh, Shenandoah, I long to hear you,
Away, I'm bound away,
'Cross the wide Missouri.

The Scotsman loved an Indian maiden,
Away, you rolling river!
With notions his pack was laden,
Away, I'm bound away,
'Cross the wide Missouri.

Oh, Shenandoah, I love your daughter,
Away, you rolling river!
For her I've crossed the stormy water,
Away, I'm bound away,
'Cross the wide Missouri.

Farewell, my dear, I'm bound to leave you.
Away, you rolling river!
Oh, Shenadoah, I'll not deceive you,
Away, I'm bound away,
'Cross the wide Missouri.

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Don't Say Maybe

(c) 1987 by Michael F. Iott, BMI

Baby, Please Don't say maybe
You got to jump in with both feet or be left behind
'Cause Baby, You kow it aint easy
To stand here Waiting for you while you decide

You got to use it
Or yu gonna lose it, Baby
You got to make work for you
Or they gonna abuse it
They won't excuse it
So Baby, Please don't say maybe
Or you'll be loking over your shoulder
While life passes by.

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Sacred Space

(c)1992 by Michael Francis Iott,
BMI

I looked to the hills,

Saw the Standing People giving praise.

Looked to the earth,

Found a path that leads to grace.

A gentle breeze is blowing.

It's the breath of God.

A gentle breeze of healing.

Making all around us Sacred Space.

The Stone People remember,

A time when this was paradise.

And a time is coming,

When the lion and lamb will embrace.

A gentle breeze is blowing.

It's the breath of God.

A gentle breeze of healing,

Making all around us Sacred Space.

You came into my life,

In a whirl of sight and sound and smell.

Enfolded me in your arms,

Took this broken heart and made it whole.

A gentle breeze is blowing.

It's the breath of God.

A gentle breeze of healing,

Making all around us Sacred Space.

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Down The Road (Kicking Stones)
(c) 2007 by Michael F. Iott, BMI

In the deep of the night

Under a late rising moon

I look to the East

And wonder if daylight’s coming soon

I’m tired and sore

From carrying on alone

Just going down the road

Going down the road kicking stones

Everyone is kicking and clawing

Just trying to stay alive

Doing what must be done

What must be done to survive

I can see their shoulders sagging

From carrying the load

Just going down the road

Going down the road kicking stones

Keep your head on straight

Keep your eyes on the prize

The hour’s getting late

It's no time to compromise

Sometimes it takes a little faith

Just to find your way back home

Just going down the road

Going down the road kicking stones

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Two By Four

(c) 1986 by Michael Francis Iott,BMI

Like a three legged dog on the highway

Some folks never learn.

One bad road after another

Never knowing which way to turn.

Well, here I go again babe,

Trying to look tough.

Hit me again with that two by four mama,

Once just ain’t enough.

The way I’ve gone through chances, baby

You'd think I had a pile to burn.

You'd think I'd make some practical use

Of all of these things I’ve learned.

But here I go again, babe

My heart is all apuff.

Hit me again with that two by four, mama

Once just ain’t enough.

So here we sit on the edge of destruction

Just passing the time of day.

The only thing I’ve ever asked of life

Is for everything to go my way.

So here we sit in the Valley of Meggido

In a beat old pick-up truck.

Hit me again with that two by four, mama

Once just ain’t enough.

I said, hit once more with that two by four, mama.

Don’t think I’ve had enough.

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Too many Generals
© 2003 by Michael F. Iott, BMI

There’s too many Generals
And not enough jugglers here
Too many Generals
Not enough Jugglers here
It’s hard to give the world a scare
When you’re keepin’ all them balls in the air
There’s too many Generals
And not enough jugglers here

There’s too many fast talkers
And not enough fiddlers here
Too many fast talkers
Not enough fiddlers here
It’s time to set the rhetoric aside
And rosin up the bow
There’s too many fast talkers
And not enough fiddlers here

There’s too many willfully
Ignorant people ‘round here
Too many willfully
Ignorant people ‘round here
To hear, See, and speak no evil means to
Hear, See and speak no Truth
There’s too many willfully
Ignorant people ‘round here

There’s too many sinners
And not enough saints around here
Too many sinners
and not enough saints around here
You don’t have top be perfect
No, you just have to try
There’s too many sinners
And not enough saints around here

There’s too much fear
And not enough love around here
Too much fear
And not enough love around here
No one’s likely to take your stuff
If everybody’s got enough
There’s too much fear
And not enough love around here

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