Great Big trees along the street
little green weeds poking through concrete
Where the rivers roll and meet
all that soil under the street

Watch it rise, Watch it fall
feel it blow, listen to it call

Flower gardens in the spring
little honey bee yes, doing her thing
birds arrive just have to sing
wind makes trees sway and swing

Watch it rise, Watch it fall
feel it blow, listen to it call

Nature, Nature
That's Nature in the City

green leaves, breathe in out
green leaves muffle that sound
green leaves, breathe in out
green leaves throwing shade down
green leaves, breathe in out
green leaves soaking up sunshine

the rolling fog’s misty vapors
-nature, nature-
the Whipping winds between skyscrapers
- that's nature in the city-
birds make nests out of newspapers
-nature, nature-
people & critters can be neighbors
- that's nature in the city-

Watch it rise, Watch it fall
feel it blow, listen to it call

in New York you hear blue jays
-nature, nature-
Red wing black birds in LA
- that's nature in the city-
in the park, hear the owl
-nature, nature-
in some cities, coyotes howl
- that's nature in the city-

Yo, I’m a flower,
here comes the bee;
she wants to get,
nectar from me.
My dusty pollen,
she will also carry,
it will stick to her body
because her body is hairy.
To the other flowers, that bee will go
with my pollen, which will quickly grow
into the middle of the flower,
then the flower makes seeds,
the seeds will sprout, into plants with leaves.

CHORUS

Plants have flowers,
flowers make seeds;
it’s the reproductive power
every plant needs.

Around the seed
fruit might grow
like an apple
or tomato.
Every fruit,
grew from a flower
on a stem,
using solar power.
Every leaf,
makes sugar from the sun.
It sweetens the nectar,
so the bees need some.
Then bees make honey;
food for the hive,
both the flowers and bees
work together to survive.

CHORUS

Well, the sun comes streaming out of the sky,
making everything grow and keeping us alive.
And our main connection to the sun are the green leaves.
( green leaves,green leaves,green leaves,green leaves)
Only they can make food with sunshine energy.

What keeps the leaves green and the sunlight stashed
are those chlorophyll containers called chloroplasts.
There are millions of them in every leaf.
They get excited when the leaf gets lighted
and become the tree’s food factories. ( become the tree’s food factories. )

Oh, Photosynthesis, yes, photosynthesis;
it’s a process that let’s life exist - that photosynthesis.
You know it’s true, we’d all be through
without the rock and roll of Photosynthesis.
oh yeah, yeah yeahee yeah yeah

Oh, minerals and water coming up from the ground,
which is where the rain falls and the roots are found.
They travel just beneath the bark up into the leaves.
Leaves use what they need to make food for the tree,
and the rest is vaporized as it’s released.
uh huh

Now, where the vapor slips out, carbon dioxide slips in
just as the leaf releases water’s oxygen
it makes it free for you and me
it’s the living example of harmony
so next time you think everything’s all wrong
go breathe amongst the leaves you’re gonna know you belong
( go breathe amongst the leaves you’re gonna know you belong )

CHORUS

Now when the leaves get sunshine and water, too;
and carbon dioxide from me and you;
they make that mighty sugar people call Glucose.
It becomes other sugars in the bark and is stored as starch.
Yes, food flowing where and when the tree needs it most.

CHORUS

Big rain fell on the city today
Big rain chased all the people away
the big rain falls and the people start running
lightning strikes the fire trucks coming
everybody knows it really is something
Big Rain, ah, haa, Big Rain

CHORUS

Well now,
the sun does shine
and the wind does blow
the earth does quake
and the water flows
the city seems so big and tall
next to nature, cities are small
that’s all

Big wind, she blowing in from the sea
Big wind a hurricane at seventy....three
the streets are flooded and the wires are down
lights are out nobody’s moving around
the windows rattle to the roaring sound
Big Wind

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Big snow covered everything in sight
Big snow turned the whole city white
the big snow falls tires start slipping
the roofs caving in and the basement’s dripping
at your nose the cold is nipping
Big Snow

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Volcano blows, the earth inside out
Volcano blows up, with a rumble and a shout
it covers everything in fine gray ash
turning engines into trash
it will happen again just like the past
Volcano blows

Well now,
the sun does shine and the wind does blow
the earth does quake and the water flows
pavements crack bricks will fall
next to nature, cities are small that’s all

Skyscrapers create
the concrete canyons
where the peregrines nest
with their companions
they lay their eggs
the chicks are hatched
they learn to fly
they learn to attack

CHORUS

it’s there again the peregrine
pow, the pigeon explosion
pow, the pigeon quick death motion
pow, the pigeon caught from above
pow, the pigeon just because
it’s there again the peregrine

with keen eyesight
they look for food
for themselves
and their growing brood
they see their prey
they drop and dive
two hundred miles a hour
just to survive

CHORUS

In nature they live
on canyon walls
and from their perch
they see it all
the birds and rodents
and snakes below
all moving food
the peregrine knows

CHORUS

CHORUS

With my hand, I effect how clear the water flows
with my hand, I direct just where my trash goes
with my hand, I effect my own neighborhood
with my hand, I can make it look bad or good
with my hand, yes my hand

wet newspapers all over the street
candy wrappers stuck on your feet,
plastic bags flying in the wind,
where did all this trash begin?
it all came from people’s hands
and today’s the day to understand
trash is what we produce
and we control what we let loose
there’s trash in the water, trash in the air,
trash is trouble everywhere

CHORUS

A friend of mine didn’t know
when he threw his trash out his car window
that I was standing there and I did protest
but he shrugged his shoulders as he confessed
he said “I’m giving someone a job”
I said “no you’re not you’re just being a slob
when people see your trash there
they’re gonna think that we don’t care
they’re gonna throw their trash right next to yours
and there will be more trash then there was before
look at the street and understand
you control the trash around here

CHORUS

You bought that candy at the corner store
how does it’s wrapper get to the shore?
the shore of the river, the ocean or lake
wrappers on the ground rain water takes
them down the street into the sewer,
yo where did you think your litter goes?
it goes through the sewer, through the pipes
out to the river to the beach you like
so look at the litter on the sand
it all came from someone’s hand

CHORUS

CHORUS

Here come the flies in black
clean water engenders
here come the flies in black
they live until september

Well, the black flies will attack, remember that
just in case you’re ever face to face and make contact
heard it first from me, billy b
means what you think you saw you might have seen
so don’t blink be what was there’s gone
black flies bit your body and moved on
hide in shadow, move in silence
reproduction based in violence
but yo, they ain’t on no government list
they straight won’t exist
if flames on the river hiss
if you feel something strange
watch your back
cause you never quite know
where the black fly is at, uh eah

CHORUS

now from the deepest
of the darkest of night
on you she flies in,
bites right through skin
tight blood will bloom, fly consumes
but then like boom your hands bring doom
gory slickness on your arm
the only witness
living memories, yeah fibs
the fish are pleased
’cause clean water breeds them
Well now flies draw blood and then they lick it
’cause protein, they get wicked on ya
your hands are your only line of defense
cause keeping rivers clean just makes sense
they don’t fear us, cheer us,
try to get near us, and spear us
yeah, fibs licking up all that,
what that stand for? flies in black

CHORUS

Black flies, take a bite with me,
take a bite with me, take a bite with me
Now come on, take a lick with me,
take a lick with me, take a lick with me
Now Humans,take a whack with me,
take a whack with me,take a whack with me
Come on, make your neck work, now freeze.........
Their bites itch me

Now the Cuyahoga River
flows through Cleveland
What happened there
some people still aren’t believing
with all the floating oil, trash and tires,
the river.......caught on fire
People said “Whoa, this has to stop,”
laws were passed, pollution dropped
the river cleaned up, insects returned,
laying eggs in the water that had burned
the black fly is the first bug back,
if the water gets cleaner dragonflies attack
cleaner still and the mayflies dance,
even cleaner water, stone flies advance
you can tell how clean a river is
if you look in the water to find which fly lives
today’s pollution regulators look at biological indicators

CHORUS

Down in the ground
they’ve been sucking on the tree roots
minding their own business
for seventeen years
when the ground warms up
they build a little tunnel
they wait to get warm
then they appear as

CHORUS

Cicada, crawl out of your hole
Cicada, seventeen years old
Cicada, grow those wings and fly
sing your love song, reproduce and die

they’re looking for a vertical
surface they can climb up
where they hang on
and split their skeleton wide
emerging as adults
they’re kinda white and gooey
pumping up their wings
they dry off and fly as

CHORUS

They don’t bite , they don’t sting
“We’re looking for a mate
that’s why we fly and sing”
eaten by birds, dogs and ants
"the predators will eat us
but they don’t stand a chance "
they don’t stand a chance
to stop

CHORUS

the males are the singers,
the females are the choosers
making new cicadas
that’s all that’s in their head
after they’re together
the female finds a tree branch
she lays her eggs,
while the male drops dead

CHORUS