Long ago in a Mediterranean land
There was a king, only one man
And his crookedest friends
That's where the story could end
You worked every day in a field full of stones
The bounty was laid at the feet of the thrones
That were mountains away
Many days and mountains away
But out of the earth
That never gave you anything free
Came the fruit on the branch
From the olive tree
There's oil for your lamps
You can see by their light
So I'll teach you to read
I'll teach you to write
Under an olive tree
Under an olive tree

And Aristotle walked away from the walls
Wandered from Plato's academy halls
He was putting his trust
In the total of all of us
Out on a peripatetical mission
Challenging all to take a position
A logic of sorts
A way to learn in the back and the forth
And in the heart of the land
From near and from far
You could be one of them
You'd choose a black or white stone
Then go to the hill
Where a council would vote
Under an olive tree
Under an olive tree

While the self-appointed tyrants
Try to tear it all apart
The olive tree
Grows in the light of a constant star
We're printing our books
We're pressing the fruit
In the light of the sun
And coming up from the roots

It's 10: 45 and I'm thinking about
Civilization, the moon has come out
For these strangers and friends
A party of strangers and friends
All of these arguments everyone makes
Discussing the planet
Discussing the state of the government
All of these strangers and friends
It's like we have returned to that hill
But there are more of us now
And the circle is widening still
In the back and forth
It's like we're holding a trust
Like we know that we count
Like something's counting on us

And I hear all these voices
Rise up like an offering
We're part of it all
When no one promised us anything
And this is my life
It's the air that I breathe
Most enlightened of groves
This most sacred of trees

In California, back in 1913
Professors came up from Berkeley
They'd studied the dirt
Planting olive trees in the earth
Collegial friends, hopeful and patient
No chemicals needed and no irrigation
They were planting their trust
In the future of all of us
As they watered each sapling tree
They'd stop and look up
To see what their children would see
They'll come to this hill
The trees will be here
They'll continue to grow
For over one thousand years

And I'll meet you here
Under an olive tree
Under an olive tree
Under an olive tree