11. Old Hightop

Music by Brent Lewis
Written by Perry Crawford

A tree named Old Hightop was straining in pain,
The last great tree standing on barren terrain.

They came from the skies and they came from the ground,
The birds, squirrels and man to the last tree around.

The weight on his branches made every twig ache,
The wind from the storm made him shiver and shake.

The bugs ate his leaves and the squirrels cracked his nuts,
The birds pecked big holes, and the men carved deep ruts.

The rainfall had soaked him straight through to the core,
And then he cried out, "I can't take it any more!"

He stretched up a branch toward the storm in the sky
Creating a lightning rod, pointed up high.

A bolt shot straight through him right down to the root!
And covered Old Hightop with ashes and soot!

And out of the smoke fell some feathers and fur
And some things that no one can tell what they were.

The tree spent the night in the cool falling rain,
Blowing up smoke rings and feeling no pain.