Protection Island
©2004 Garrett Clevenger

C      Am  F  Am  F G

C             Welcome to Protection Island
Am F       in the middle of the Sound.
Am F G   Hear the voices all around.
C             You notice all the Life that’s moving round.
Am F       It’s a refuge in this sea,
Am F G   if we just let them be.
C             You see the eagles up there soaring free.
Am F       They’ve got a better view of
Am F G   black, brown, green, white, blue,
C             the colors of the critters passing through.
Am F       Cormorants and wrens,
Am F G   falcons and ravens,
C             tufted puffins and tough sea lions
Am F       all struggle to stay alive.
Am F G   Many won’t survive.
C
Em C       Let them rot. Let them roll.
Em C       Let them flow with the tide.
Em C       They’re not forgot. They still got soul.
Am F G    See them fold back inside.

C      Am  F  Am  F G

C             A thousand seals are gathered on the shore
Am F       soaking up the sun,
Am F G   nurturing their young.
C             They’ll be gone before the winter comes,
Am F       at least those who survive.
Am F G   The others who have died
C             will become food for the gulls,crabs and the flies.
Am F       They scavenge what they can
Am F G   on Protection Island.
C
Em C       Let them rot. Let them roll.
Em C       Let them flow with the tide.
Em C       Under the fog, rain, wind and snow
Am F G   see them fold back inside.

C      Am  F  Am  F G

C             As night falls their calls begin to wane
Am F       They’ll be sleeping soon.
Am F G   Look, here comes the Moon
C             reflecting in the eyes of black-tailed deer
Am F       like the one that we saw dead
Am F G   remember how his head
C             was twisted round and staring strait ahead
Am F       toward the cedar tree
Am F G   the spirit portal key?
C
Em C       Let him rot. Let him roll.
Em C       Let him flow with the tide.
Em C       The cedar brought that bucks soul
Am F G   back to the Sound he heard inside.

C      Am  F  Am  F G

C             Before we leave Protection Island
Am F       Look across the sea
Am F G   we are not far, indeed,
C             from a land with lots of cars and thick concrete
Am F       and wires that wrap the world.
Am F G   But they, too, will unfurl.
C             It takes a grain of sand to make a pearl.
Am F       Friction is our friend.
Am F G   It will restore the land.
C
Em C       Let it rot. Let it roll.
Em C       Let it flow with the tide.
Em C       It, too, will drop. Then it will go
Am F G   like the dead, in it’s time.
C

Em C [jam]

Em C       Let me rot. Let me roll.
Em C       Let me flow with the tide.
Em C       The current caught and brought my soul
Am F G   back to the Sound of Protection Island.

C      Am  F  Am  F G
Am