Ballad of the Dalai Lama

(If you can guess to what tune this should be sung, you're as old as we are!)

Born in a mountain high above the trees
In old Tibet where the glaciers freeze.
Raised on a farm far from you and me,
They made him a god when he was only three.

Chorus:
   Dalai, Dalai Lama:
   King of a Buddhist land.

He learned all the Sutras while still a child.
He learned to be meek, and to be mild.
He did well in school, he was never wild,
The peace of his palace was never defiled.

Chorus
   Dalai, Dalai Lama:
   Grown to a peaceful man.

His palace of Potala was upon the hill,
The people of Tibet loved to do his will.
If not for the commies he would be there still:
Adored by his subjects with his purpose fulfilled.

Chorus
   Dalai, Dalai Lama:
   Ruled with enlightened hand.

But then came the Chinese with their bombs and guns.
They murdered the monks and raped the nuns.
Poor Dalai Lama was on the run,
Fleeing 'cross the mountains 'neath the moon and the sun.

Chorus
   Dalai, Dalai Lama:
   Driven from his command.

And now the commies want to make amends,
But the prophecy says that the dynasty ends
When a Dalai Lama leaves Tibet and his friends
He breaks the link on which succession depends.

Chorus
   Dalai, Dalai Lama:
   Lost in a foreign land.

© 2000 Bucky Edgett