The People Tree
David Byrne

From the drop of blood, to bones and body parts
To vital organs, forming your brain and tiny heart
The fetus, date of birth; until puberty finally starts
Adolescence, adult, then your elderly body rots
It was divine decree that begun the plan
But is diseased by the greed of the sons of man
Don't try to leave with the guns in hand
Understand: God's the one in command

Did we climb out of the sea?
Where did we come from, you and me?
Two legs to walk, and as you see
I'm not a man I want to be
People growing, my backyard (I'm growing in your backyard)
In my garden, in my heart (I'm in your garden, I'm in your heart)
Pink and purple, red and blue (See all the colors?)
On this sunny afternoon (It's a sunny afternoon)

Back before time was time and space was space
The ever-present eye divine so laced with grace
Decided it was time to try to chase, to chase
But what it would design, now life is taking place
Within itself, divided; now it takes some space
And it can't be found alive, the mind creates the state
Of ego, now what's mine is mine
OK, now hate will reign until the blind have eyes and lay awake in wait

How are the seeds in the ground?
How is my garden growing now?
A tender kiss, a little smile
The way a mother holds its child
Tasty little human beings (Tasty little human beings)
I grow them on the people tree (I grow them on the people tree)
I will eat them one by one (Eat them one by one)
If there's enough for everyone (Like you and you)

Born in the ever-flowing life beyond the dirt
Tell me what the purpose is for creating the earth
(Maybe we created the planet as man's habitat
Be fruitful and multiply across the planet's back)
Well, why does hate exist?
The war and AIDS and shit?
If we're to be fruitful, why can't poor people pay they rent?
('Cause love and hate, both sides are conjoined
Physical forms have to deal with both sides of the coin)
Why do we die? (So you can live!)
Why do we strive? (So you can win!
But why did you defy every truthful word I recommend?)
My question back, why do you recommend an ode temptationing
(So I can test your patience and tolerance in the face of sin)
But why attest when you hold all the answers to the state we in?
(For you to bear witness of imperfections of mortal men)
So it's a lesson? (And a blessing
Journey back to where you been
'Cause before the tree can flourish seeds must first be planted in)

People growing, my backyard (I'm growing in my backyard)
In my garden, in my heart (I'm in your garden, I'm in your heart)
If you like my garden, you might like me (Look at all the colors!)
Underneath the people tree


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Lyrics by David Byrne

  (The Gift Of Sound) Where The Sun Never Goes Down   (the Gift Of Sound) Where The Sun Never Goes Down....   (Untitled)   A Building In The Air   A Cloud Of Light   A Conduit To Heaven   A Hill In Ontario County   A Long Time Ago   A Million Miles Away   A Perfect Hand   A Persecution Followed   A Pretty Face   A Self Made Man   A Self-Made Man   A Soft Seduction   A Walk In The Dark   A Whole Man   Admiral Perry   America Is Waiting   American Troglodyte   Amnesia   Angels   Art Thou Greater Than He?   Astronaut   Asuka   Atronaut   Au fond du Temple Saint   Ava   Back In The Box   Back in the Box [Album Version]   Big Blue Plymouth   Big Blue Plymouth (Eyes Wide Open)   Big Business   Broken Things   Buck Naked   Burnt By The Sun   Carnival Eyes   Civilization   Come With Us   Crash   Daddy Go Down   Dance On Vaseline   Dancing Together   Desconocido Soy   Dialog Box   Dialogue Box   Dirty Old Town   Dirty Old Town (mapeye)   Don't Fence Me In   Don't Fence Me In (cole Porter)   Don't Want To Be A Part Of Your World   Don't Want To Be Part Of Your World   Don't Want to be Part of Your World (Samba)   Don't You Agree?   Dreamworld - Marco De Canaveses   Eggs In A Briar Patch   Eleven Days   Empire   Every Drop Of Rain   Everyone's in Love With You   Everything That Happens   Exquisite Whiteness   Fall with Me   Finite = Alright   Finite=Alright   Five Golden Sections   Fuzzy Freaky   Gates Of Paradise   Girls on My Mind   Glad   Glass, Concrete & Stone   Glass, Concrete and Stone   Glass, Concrete, and Stone   Good & Evil   Good And Evil   Good And Evil (rumba/llesa)   Great Desolations   Hanging Upside Down   Help Me Somebody   Here Lies Love   His Wife Refused   Home   How Are You?   I Feel My Stuff   I Know Sometimes A Man Is Wrong   I've Tried   I've Tried (Things To Do)   I've Tried [things To Do] [knee Play 9]   In The Future   In The Future [knee Play 12]   Independence Day   Independence Day (cumba)   Jungle Book   Kish   Ladies In Blue   Language Confounded   Lazy   Lazy [*]   Lazy [Freeform Reform Vocal]   Lazy [Norman Cook Dub]   Lazy [Peace Division Dub]   Lie To Me   Lie To Me (merengue)   Life Is Long   Lighthouse   Like Humans Do   Like Humans Do [Los Amigos Invisibles Remix]   Lilies Of The Valley   Loco De Amor   Loco De Amor (salsa/reggae)   Machu Picchu   Make Believe Mambo   Make Believe Mambo (orisa)   Marching Through The Wilderness   Mea Culpa   Men Will Do Anything   Miss America   Money   Monkey Man   Moonlight in Glory   My Big Hands   My Big Hands (Fall Through the Cracks)   My Big Nurse   My Fair Lady   My Love Is You   Neighborhood   Never So Big   Nineveh   Not So Far To Go   Nothing At All   Now I'm Your Mom   Office Cowboy   Office Cowboy (Pagode)   One Fine Day   Order 1081   Outro   Pirates   Please Don't   Poison   Poor Boy   Princess   Princess [Non LP Track]   Ready For This World   Rios, Pontes E Overdrives   River   Sad Song   Seven Years   She Only Sleeps   She's Mad   Smile   Social Studies   Social Studies (The Gift Of Sound)   Social Studies [knee Play 4]   Solano Avenue   Somebody   Something Ain't Right   Strange Overtones   Strange Ritual   Teotihuacan   The Accident   The Angel Moroni   The Breastplate Of Righteousness   The Burden Of The Word   The Call Of The Wild   The Call Of The Wild (merengue)   The Civil Wars   The Cowboy Mambo   The Cowboy Mambo ( Hey Lookit Me Now )   The Cowboy Mambo (Hey Lookit Me Now)   The Dream Police   The Dream Police (Cha Cha Cha)   The Gates of Paradise   The Great Intoxication   The Great Western Road   The Jezebel Spirit   The Lighthouse   The Man Who Loved Beer   The Moment Of Conception   The Mouth Of Malachi   The Other Side of this Life   The Pearl Of Great Price   The Red House   The Revolution   The River   The Rose Of Tacloban   The Rose Tattoo   The Sound Of Business   The Sound Of Business [knee Play 3]   They Are In Love   Things To Do (I've Tried)   Tic Toc 2 (In the Future) [*][Instrumental]   Tiny Apocalypse   Tiny Town   Tree (Reprise)   Tree (Reprise) [*][Instrumental]   Tree (Today Is an Important Occasion)   Tree (today Is An Important Occasion) [knee Play 1...   Tree [Instrumental][Version]   Tula   Twistin' In The Wind   Two Soldiers   U.B. Jesus   Un Di Felice, Eterea   Under Heavy Manners   Under Heavy Manners (fripp/byrne)   Under the Mountain   Unknown   Untitled Track   Ur   Walk Like A Woman   Walk on Water   Wanted For Life   Waters Of March   What a Day That Was   When She Passed By   Where The Sun Never Goes Down   Why   Why Don't You Love Me?   Wicked Little Doll   Women Vs. Men   Women vs. Men (Bolero)   Written On Gold Plates   You & Eye   You & Eye   You And Eye   You Don't Know Me   You'll Be Taken Care Of

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