Take the young ones to the desert
Teach them how the arrow flies
How to smell the beast upon the wind
And run with mother nature's loving lies
Show them how to balance what is wrong
And what is right
And make their own directions
Through the longest darkest night

Chorus:

Oh you need that rite of passage
Before you can continue on
That brave self understanding
You can lean your dreams upon
You may want for children
You may crave for man and wife
But you need that rite of passage
To the summer of your life

Show the children to the master
Put the tools into their hands
Show them how to work the grain
And how to hold the ever moving sand
Place with them the knowledge of the far
And of the near
And lead them through the waiting storms
That will never ever clear

Chorus

It's a sad deluded vision this creature of our time
Its body now is broken
Its smile it rarely has the chance to shine
It stands so high and mighty
With its never ending needs
While somewhere in the beating heart
The earth it vainly pleads

Chorus