Sloop Clearwater
By Bud Foote, 1969 Atlanta, GA

I was sittin’ on my front porch as I watched the river rot,
Thinkin’ about the sturgeon that are gone but not forgot.
And the buffalo all restless underneath the prairie sod
And the smoke stacked up to heaven so it hid the face of god.

There are soldiers marchin’ by my door and a tap upon my phone 
And a freeway inching toward me that will someday eat my home 
And the smoke stacks hide a sunset that will never come again 
On the day the sloop Clearwater came sailin’ round the bend

The captain had a mustache that was 14 inches long,
And the shanty master paced the deck a’roarin’ out a song,
And the man who held the tiller wore his hair down to his knees
And a hundred tons of canvas billowed out into the breeze.

But redwood trees are crashin’ down out on the western coast
And an angry shadowy army follows Crazy Horse’s ghost
And the eagles nest’s as barren as the mountain lions den
As they brought the sloop Clearwater a’sailin’ round the bend

The ship cut through the sewage lying on the river’s face
And the sloop docked in the garbage that was all around the place
But the crew struck up a hornpipe and the boots rang on the wood 
And the sound fell on the river and the river found it good.

But there’s lightnin’ In the Asian skies and thunder in the slums,
You can hear the indians turnin’ up their long forgotten drums;
Children clap their hands and laugh as men are killing men
As they brought the sloop Clearwater sailin’ round the bend

I said you people all are fools to laugh and sing and shout
When your ship’s so deep in liquid shit it never will get out
When children cry from hunger and grown men get mean from shame
A war rages in every heart and the very ground’s in flame

You sail your dirty river and you sing your little songs
You dance your pretty dances and recite your petty wrongs,
Don’t you know that Abiyoyo’s making footprints in the fen,
As you bring your sloop Clearwater a’sailin’ round the bend.

Well, the crew just laughed and danced some more and their beads began to swing
Beards were lifted to the skies as the crew began to sing
A black man rose upon the deck and preached a sermon there
And a crewman capered on the mast like a dancing grizzly bear.

Now the sloop is gone and once again I watch the river not
And someone feels the sky fire and another hugs a shot
The human heart is broken and the land is torn and red
And the air we breathe chokes on itself and the rivers all are dead.

We war against each other and we fight with our own souls
We’ve killed off every river and our blood is icy cold
But a spark of joy jumps in my breast as I remember when
Pete brought the sloop Clearwater a’sailin’ round the bend

I said you people all are fools but I guess I am one too
And it seemed the guns went quiet then and the rivers all were new
The smoke clouds cleared and I almost wept to see the skies again
On the day the sloop Clearwater came sailin’ round the bend

The mountains rang and children laughed and women raised a song
The bison thundered down the plains a hundred thousand strong
The ghost dance tent was raised again and the lion wandered free
And the rivers ran like silver from the mountains to the sea

There was love and joy and brotherhood and peace the world around
There was light and paint and energy and trees and taste and sound
And Abiyoyo danced a solemn waltz out in the fen
On the day the sloop Clearwater came sailin’ round the bend

Now the Hudson River’s clean enough for  shad to run again
A floating pool is ready for the children to go swim
Songs ring out along the banks and folks ask what, where, why and when
They still bring the sloop Clearwater’s sailin’ round the bend.