Elk Rock Island

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

We come from the land
We come from the land