Hampshire Alum and Biologist Phyllis D. Coley 70F Celebrated By The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.  Lissy Coley was one of the first Hampshire college students. She tells an interesting story about her time there, inspired, I wrote a song I call "I Would Know"


Verse 1
Way down south where the green vines climb,
Phyllis walked slow, takin' her time,
Notebook out and the sun runnin' low,
Chasin' the secrets the forests know.
From Amherst fields to Panama's heat,
She found where the wild hearts beat,
Every leaf and shadow below-
She'd smile and say, I would know.

Chorus
I would know-oh, I would know,
How the jungle hums where the rivers go.
From Hampshire roots to the tropic flow,
Ask the forest, ask the wind-
I would know.

Verse 2
First of her class when the College was new,
Dreams so big they almost flew,
Studied the teeth on the smallest bite,
Watched how the sunlight turns to night.
Each tree spoke in a language rare,
She learned to listen, she learned to care,
Years went by and her stories grow,
And she still says, I would know.

Chorus
I would know-oh, I would know,
How the jungle hums where the rivers go.
From Hampshire roots to the tropic flow,
Ask the forest, ask the wind-
I would know.

Bridge
Smithsonian honors her steady hand,
Mapping the life in a distant land,
Science and wonder in one true soul,
She's still out there takin' roll.

Verse 3
Every morning she greets the sky,
Names the birds as they driftin' by,
Tells the story the green leaves show,
Whispers low, I would know.

Final Chorus
I would know-oh, I would know,
How the jungle hums where the rivers go.
From Hampshire hills to the tropic glow,
Ask the forest, ask the wind-
I would know.



I Would Know

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I Would Know

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