Rush has written some great songs over the years. The Trees starts out with good musical parts. Indeed the music stays good right to the end. And the cutesy idea of using the forest for its lessons is quite enamouring. It’s too bad that I just simply hate the message espoused by this song.
My two points are that I don’t like the anti union stance of the song nor the anti equality position. So I’ve taken the liberty of rewriting the lyrics of this song, set to the same music. They are as follows:
Lightning Rods
There is unrest in the forest,
There is trouble with the trees,
For the oaks don’t want to be
Fragile lightning rods.
The trouble with the oaks,
(And they’re quite convinced they’re right).
They say that they are just too lofty
And get the lightning strikes.
But the maples can’t help their feelings
If they like the way they’re made
And they wonder why the oaks
Can’t be happy at their height.
There is trouble in the forest,
And the creatures all have fled,
As the oaks scream “Oppression!”
And the maples shake their heads.
So the oaks formed a country club
And demanded equal heights,
The maples are just too cautious
We will make them become our height,
Now there’s no more tree oppression
For they passed a noble law,
And the oaks are all kept smaller
By hatchet, axe and saw.
