"While they danced around the liberty tree
Their backs were turned, they could not see
The axe and the irons of captivity
While they danced around the liberty tree"
- James Kole, "The Liberty Tree"

Words and Music by James Kole
© copyright 2010 James Kole Publishing

While they danced around the liberty tree
Their backs were turned, they could not see
The axe and the irons of captivity
While they danced around the liberty tree

They'd been eating the fruit that the tree had grown
From the seeds that forgotten fathers had sown
They'd not tilled new earth, no sweat no toil
Their hands had never touched the soil

While they danced around the liberty tree
Their backs were turned, they could not see
The axe and the irons of captivity
While they danced around the liberty tree

Under the tree's branches they dozed in the shade
In the cool afternoon they laughed and played
They leaned on the trunk to rest their bones
The sacred fire was turning to stone

While they danced around the liberty tree
Their backs were turned, they could not see
The axe and the irons of captivity
While they danced around the liberty tree

And around the tree they lived their lives
Free from struggle and sacrifice 
An extravagant party, a royal masquerade 
The debt must be repaid

While they danced around the liberty tree
Their backs were turned, they could not see
The axe and the irons of captivity
While they danced around the liberty tree