SONG OF A
THOUSAND
LEAVES
A Thousand Leaves
Brighton, UK 2008
​We invited Seckou Keita to come and play his Kora on Flame, and while in the studio we suddenly had the idea of asking him to improvise something on A Thousand Leaves as well. It was such a joy to witness a true master in action.
Just as your thumbnail can cover the sun, so can a concept hide the truth
Hoarding the things that we once learned, back in our youth
Dragging them with us a drop in the ocean oh give me expanding crashing waves
These simplified theories so solid tomorrow
Will only fade away
Will only fade, will only fade away
We think that we know where we’re coming from, we think we’ve evolved two million years on
We should be more concerned with where we’re going to now
What about the subatomic things that you can’t see with a microscope or a camera lens?
What about the force that lies beyond them? Holds us together, keeps the world turning
The threads that keep us learning, learning
Chorus:
I am wise
When I am sure I know nothing
Anything that’s tied down is lies
Every question is living
I let it in ‘cos it just is
She fills me through I hear her breathing
A thousand leaves sing for peace and I am with them
A thousand leaves sing for peace and I am with them
There is no need to go back to the Stone Age we can amalgamate technology with nature to accelerate
The rate at which we purify the air and rebuild this beauty, for our children to share
Because these new discoveries are of magic, magic so rare
What about the songs we sing with our loved ones? Are they extinct ‘cos we’re lost in our screens
What about the children shooting in their 2D reality, desensitised, sensitivity
Heading for a self-destructive territory evolutionary static ‘cos we’re at it for mathematical glory
From the embers of catastrophe rises the phoenix from the flame
From the ashes spring the green shoots ready to restart the game
Regain consciousness, Mama bless
Chorus
A thousand leaves we sing for peace x 8
Chorus
A thousand leaves still will sing when I am gone
A thousand leaves they will sing
Salaam Shalom
Salaam Shalom
Salaam - Peace in Arabic
Shalom - Peace in Hebrew
Musicians
Susie Ro – Vocals
Michael Stanton – Guitar & backing vocals
Seckou Keita – Kora
Eran Katz – Guitar, percussion & bass
Radek Ditrych – Bass
Allan Kerr – Percussion
Nimrod Nol – Violin
Omer Gonen-Haela – Flute