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The light is long the sun is low
I'm riding fast across this dusty road
But I don't want to be, no I don't want to be
Above the ridge an eagle flies in lazy circles in the western skies
I want to fly with him I want to walk the spirit trail
I've seen them come I've seen them go off to the oilfields and rodeos
To find a better way, they leave their native soil
But I can hear a different song
The drum within my heart is beating strong
I want to follow it, I've got to walk the spirit trail
Let every creature I see be a brother and a friend to me
Let every step that I take leave the footprints of a warrior
Along the spirit trail...
"The Spirit Trail"
Words and music by Daniel Fogelberg
Copyright 1990 EMI April Music/Hickory Grove Music (ASCAP)
Click here to watch a QuickTime movie interview with Dan about writing and producing "The Wild Places." (From the music video "Dan Fogelberg Live: Greetings From The West.")
"'The Spirit Trail' is my tribute to Native American spiritualism. I feel closely akin to that particular spirituality. My church is the forest. My church is the ocean. My church is the wild places, you know? This is where I go to communicate with the Creator's Spirit. I think if anything, my spiritual views are probably more closely aligned with the Native American approach to the appreciation and oneness with nature. I think that's sadly what the white race has forgotten, you know? Their feet have been separated from the Earth. We build concrete and put ourselves in square little boxes with artificial light and artificial heat. And we're being cut off from the source of our creation. And that, to me, is terribly important to re-establish.
I have a lot of Native American friends. And I see, especially in the young people, that it's getting harder and harder to maintain the traditional ways. More and more, young people are being absorbed into the white man's culture -- the pop culture; the MTV culture, and are losing their heritage. And I think that's a shame, because I think they have a fine heritage, which needs to be preserved." -Dan Fogelberg, from an on-camera interview for the video "Dan Fogelberg Live: Greetings From The West." You may click HERE to view streaming video of the above interview.
 Released on CD and cassette tape in August 1990 by Epic/CBS Records
Produced by Dan Fogelberg for Full Moon Productions
AURORA NOVA/THE WILD PLACES
FOREFATHERS
SONG OF THE SEA
ANASTASIA'S EYES
BLIND TO THE TRUTH
LOVERS IN A DANGEROUS TIME
RHYTHM OF THE RAIN
BONES IN THE SKY
THE SPIRIT TRAIL
EVER ON Recorded at Mountain Bird Studio (at the Ranch), CO;
Lahaina Sound, Maui, Hawaii; Sunset Sound, Los Angeles, CA
Engineed by Marty Lewis, David Reynolds, Dan Fogelberg and Duane Scott
Cover & Sailing Photography - Anastasia Savage
Cover Illustration - Amy Dakos
Inside Photography - Andy Katz
Album Design - Kosh & Amy Dakos
"Teach your children what we have taught our children -- that the earth is our mother. Whatever befalls the earth, befalls the sons of the earth. This we know. The earth does not belong to man; man belongs to the earth."-Chief Seattle
Suquamish Tribe Home Page Shamanic Circles The Vision Quest - A Wilderness Rite of Passage
Voice of Golden Eagle and Andy Tate -- Healing Flutes and Magical Strings
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