Songs for Native Americans

[Fist and Faith]

Heh. Of the three songs here, again, one is Elton John and one is Peter Gabriel. But first, the earliest of the three - Indian Reservation, by Paul Revere and the Raiders.

They took the whole Cherokee Nation
And put us on this reservation
Took away our ways of life
The tomahawk and the bow and knife

They took away our native tongue
And taught their English to our young
And all the beads we made by hand
Are nowadays made in Japan

Cherokee people, Cherokee tribe
So proud to live, so proud to die

They took the whole Indian Nation
And locked us on this reservation
And though I wear a shirt and tie
I’m still a red man deep inside

Cherokee people, Cherokee tribe
So proud to live, so proud to die

But maybe someday when they learn
Cherokee Nation will return
Will return
Will return
Will return
Will return

----------------------------------------------------

Indian Sunset, by Elton John. (Actually, the words are, as most Elton John songs, by Bernie Taupin.)

As I awoke this evening with the smell of wood smoke clinging
Like a gentle cobweb hanging upon a painted teepee
Oh I went to see my chieftain with my warlance and my woman
For he told us that the yellow moon would very soon be leaving
This I can't believe I said, I can't believe our warlord's dead
Oh he would not leave the chosen ones to the buzzards and the soldiers guns

Oh great father of the Iroquois ever since I was young
I've read the writing of the smoke and breast fed on the sound of drums
I've learned to hurl the tomahawk and ride a painted pony wild
To run the gauntlet of the Sioux, to make a chieftain's daughter mine

And now you ask that I should watch
The red man's race be slowly crushed
What kind of words are these to hear
From Yellow Dog whom white man fears

I take only what is mine Lord, my pony, my squaw, and my child
I can't stay here to see you die along with my tribe's pride
I go to search for the yellow moon and the fathers of our sons
Where the red sun sinks in the hills of gold and the healing waters run

Trampling down the prairie rose leaving hoof tracks in the sand
Those who wish to follow me I welcome with my hands
I heard from passing renegades Geronimo was dead
He'd been laying down his weapons when they filled him full of lead

Now there seems no reason why I should carry on
In this land that once was my land I can't find a home
It's lonely and it's quiet and the horse soldiers are coming
And I think it's time I strung my bow and ceased my senseless running
For soon I'll find the yellow moon along with my loved ones
Where the buffaloes graze in clover fields without the sound of guns

And the red sun sinks at last into the hills of gold
And peace to this young warrior comes with a bullet hole

(Awesome drums in this song, and some nice piano. )

-----------------------------------------------------

San Jacinto, by Peter Gabriel

Thick cloud - steam rising - hissing stone on sweat lodge fire
Around me - buffalo robe - sage in bundle - run on skin
Outside - cold air - stand, wait for rising sun
Red paint - eagle feathers - coyote calling - it has begun
Something moving in - I taste it in my mouth and in my heart
It feels like dying - slow - letting go of life

Medicine man lead me up though town - Indian ground - so far down
Cut up land - each house - a pool - kids wearing water wings - drink in cool
Follow dry river bed - watch Scout and Guides make pow-wow signs
Past Geronimo's Disco - Sit 'n' Bull Steakhouse - white men dream
A rattle in the old man's sack - look at mountain top -
keep climbing up
Way above us the desert snow - white wind blow

I hold the line - the line of strength that pulls me through the fear
San Jacinto - I hold the line
San Jacinto - the poison bite and darkness take my sight -
I hold the line
And the tears roll down my swollen cheek - think I'm losing it - getting weaker
I hold the line - I hold the line
San Jacinto - yellow eagle flies down from the sun -
from the sun

We will walk - on the land
We will breathe - of the air
We will drink - from the stream
We will live - hold the line

(Awesome song!!!)

[Landwaster]

Always loved that one ... "So proud to die" ...

You left out Running Bear

[Fist and Faith]

Never heard of that one. You gonna add it??

[Landwaster]

Well its only a song, it ain't a political statement, but, here goes :

On the banks of the river stood Running Bear and Indian braves.
On the other side of the river stood his lovely Indian maid.
Little White dove was her name, such a lovely sight to see.
But their tribes fought with each other, so their love could never be.

Running bear loved Little White Dove with a love big as the sky.
Running bear loved Little White Dove with a love that couldn't die.

He couldn't swim the raging river, 'cause the river was too wide.
He couldn't reach little White dove waitin' on the other side.
In the moonlight he could see her throwing kisses across the waves.
Her little heart was beating faster, waiting there for her brave.

Running bear loved Little White Dove with a love big as the sky.
Running bear loved Little White Dove with a love that couldn't die.

Running Bear went in the water, Little White Dove did the same.
And they swam up to each other, through the swirling stream they came.
As their hands touched and their lips met, the raging river pulled them down.
Now they'll always be together, in that happy hunting ground.

Running bear loved Little White Dove with a love big as the sky.
Running bear loved Little White Dove with a love that couldn't die.

[Fist and Faith]

*gasp* "Only a song"? Why the heck would anyone write a song without a political agenda???

So is it sort of a folk song?

[duchess of malfi]

I enjoy some Native American music, as well. Have you heard the CD called Drum Prayer?
There are a couple of flutists I enjoy, too, but want to look up the correct spellings of their names before I post them.

[Landwaster]

*gasp* "Only a song"? Why the heck would anyone write a song without a political agenda???

So is it sort of a folk song?

I dunno, its just some old song!

You really hadn't heard of it? I thought it was like Jingle Bells!

[Fist and Faith]

You really hadn't heard of it? I thought it was like Jingle Bells!

Not around my neck of the woods.

[Landwaster]

Well fair enough then

[Cord Hurn]

Kansas - Cheyenne Anthem

(lyrics by Kerry Livgren)

From the mountains to the sun, Life has only just begun.
We wed this land and pledge our souls to meet it's end,
Life has only just begun
Here my people roam the earth, in the kingdom of our birth,
Where the dust of all our horses hides the sun
We are mighty on the earth, on the earth

You have come to move me, take me from my ancient home,
Land of my fathers I can't leave you now
We will share it with you, no man owns this earth we're on
Now the wheels are rolling hear the howling winds of war
It's my destiny to fight and die
Is there no solution, can we find no other way, Lord let me stay
Under the endless sky and the earth below
Here I was born to live and I will never go, oh no

But we cannot endure like the earth and the mountains
Life is not ours to keep, for a new sun is rising

Soon these days shall pass away, for our freedom we must pay
All our words and deeds are carried on the wind,
In the ground our bodies lay, here we'll stay.

[Cord Hurn]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVEgxYnQIxw

[Cord Hurn]

Outlaws - Trail Of Tears

(written by Chris Anderson and R. Mason)

Amadahy was her name, she was Cherokee
With the land she loved they lived in perfect harmony
Her people thrived all through the Appalachians
'til the white eye learned of all the gold buried within
Trail Of Tears

Death soldiers marched on them in 1838
She watched them burn their homes with a fire of hate
Betrayed by treaties and the Army's grand old man
Seven thousand troops led them to hell and back again

(Trail of Tears) I'm on the trail of tears (Trail of Tears)
Lord I'm going down, (Trail of Tears), I'm on the trail of tears
(Trail of Tears) turn the whole world upside down

Legend says where every mother's tear fell, grows a Cherokee Rose
I hope Old Hickory is burning down in hell
With all the demons that drove him down that road
Down the trail of tears

The last of them arrived in the spring of '39
Shattered her peoples hope, one heartbeat at a time
Crockett and Worcester, they fought for them in vain
They will always be remembered,
In our hearts they will remain

(Trail of Tears) I'm on the trail of tears (Trail of Tears)
Lord I'm going down, (Trail of Tears), down the trail of tears
(Trail of Tears) turn the whole world upside down
Trail of Tears

[Cord Hurn]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L74le-4OCrc

[Outlaws - Trail Of Tears]

[Zarathustra]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVEgxYnQIxw

I love Cheyenne Anthem.

I like this live version where the bass player sings the "Indian children part."

[Vader]

Johnny Cash - As Long As The Grass Shall Grow (actually the wole "Bitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian" album)

As long as the moon shall rise as long as the rivers flow
As long as the sun will shine as long as the grass shall grow
The Senecas are an Indian tribe of the Iroquios nation
Down on the New York Pennsylvania Line you'll find their reservation
After the US revolution cornplanter was a chief
He told the tribe these men they could trust that was his true belief
He went down to Independence Hall and there was a treaty signed
That promised peace with the USA and Indian rights combined
George Washington gave his signature the Government gave its hand
They said that now and forever more that this was Indian land
As long as the moon shall rise...
On the Seneca reservation there is much sadness now
Washington's treaty has been broken and there is no hope no how
Across the Allegheny River they're throwing up a dam
It will flood the Indian country a proud day for Uncle Sam
It has broke the ancient treaty with a politician's grin
It will drown the Indians graveyards cornplanter can you swim
The earth is mother to the the Senecas they're trampling sacred ground
Change the mint green earth to black mud flats as honor hobbles down
As long as the moon shall rise...
The Iroquios Indians used to rule from Canada way south
But no one fears the Indians now and smiles the liar's mouth
The Senecas hired an expert to figure another site
But the great good army engineers said that he had no right
Although he showed them another plan and showed them another way
They laughed in his face and said no deal Kinuza dam is here to stay
Congress turned the Indians down brushed off the Indians plea
So the Senecas have renamed the dam they call it Lake Perfidy
As long as the moon shall rise...
Washington Adams and Kennedy now hear their pledges ring
The treaties are safe we'll keep our word but what is that gurgling
It's the back water from Perfidy Lake it's rising all the time
Over the homes and over the fields and over the promises fine
No boats will sail on Lake Perfidy in winter it will fill
In summer it will be a swamp and all the fish will kill
But the Government of the USA has corrected George's vow
The father of our country must be wrong what's an Indian anyhow
As long as the moon shall rise (look up) as long as the rivers flow (are you thirsty)
As long as the sun will shine (my brother are you warm) as long as the grass shall grow

***
Johnny Cash - The Ballad of Ira Hayes (written by Peter La Farge)

Ira Hayes...
Ira Hayes...
Call him drunken Ira Hayes,
He won't answer anymore,
Not the whiskey drinking Indian,
Or the marine that went to war.

Gather 'round me people,
There's a story I would tell,
'Bout a brave young Indian,
You should remember well.
From the land of the Pima Indian,
A proud and noble band,
Who farmed the Phoenix Valley,
In Arizona land.
Down the ditches a thousand years,
The waters grew Ira's peoples' crops,
'Til the white man stole their water rights,
And the sparkling water stopped.
Now, Ira's folks were hungry,
And their land grew crops of weeds,
When war came, Ira volunteered,
And forgot the white man's greed.

Call him drunken Ira Hayes,
He won't answer anymore,
Not the whiskey drinking Indian,
Or the marine that went to war.

There they battled up Iwo Jima hill,
Two hundred and fifty men,
But only twenty-seven lived,
To walk back down again.
And when the fight was over,
And Old Glory raised,
Among the men who held it high,
Was the Indian, Ira Hayes.

Call him drunken Ira Hayes,
He won't answer anymore,
Not the whiskey drinking Indian,
Or the marine that went to war.

Ira Hayes returned a hero,
Celebrated through the land,
He was wined and speeched and honored,
Everybody shook his hand,
But he was just a Pima Indian,
No water, no home, no chance,
At home nobody cared what Ira'd done,
And when did the Indians dance.

Call him drunken Ira Hayes,
He won't answer anymore,
Not the whiskey drinking Indian,
Or the marine that went to war.

Then Ira started drinking hard,
Jail was often his home,
They let him raise the flag and lower it
Like you'd throw a dog a bone.
He died drunk early one morning,
Alone in the land he fought to save,
Two inches of water and a lonely ditch,
Was a grave for Ira Hayes.

Call him drunken Ira Hayes,
He won't answer anymore,
Not the whiskey drinking Indian,
Or the marine that went to war.

Yeah, call him drunken Ira Hayes,
But his land is just as dry,
And his ghost is lying thirsty,
In the ditch where Ira died.

***

Anthrax - Indians

We all see black and white
When it comes to someone else's fight
No one ever gets involved
Apathy can never solve

[BRIDGE:]
FORCED OUT - Brave and mighty
STOLEN LAND - They can't fight it
HOLD ON - To pride and tradition
Even though they know how much their lives are really missin'
WE'RE DISSIN' THEM ...

[PRE-CHORUS:]
On reservation
A hopeless situation

Respect is something that you earn
Our Indian brother's getting burned
Original American
Turned into, second class citizen

[CHORUS:]
Cry for the Indians
Die for the Indians
Cry for the Indians
Cry, Cry, Cry for the Indians

Love the land and fellow man
Peace is what we strive to have
Some folks have none of this
Hatred and prejudice

TERRITORY, It's just the body of the nation
The people that inhabit it make its configuration
PREJUDICE, Something we all can do without
Cause a flag of many colors is what this land's all about

[Vraith]

Huh...never noticed this thread.
I love that Gabriel, like the Kansas quite a lot, too.


There's a parody of "Running Bear" that my younger sisters loved [what do you want? they were like 7 and 8]

[Linna Heartbooger]

Johnny Cash wrote a whole album called WHAT now....?
(Of course he would....)


Oklahoma Hills
Words and Music by Woody Guthrie and Jack Guthrie

Many a month has come and gone
Since I wandered from my home
In those Oklahoma hills where I was born.
Many a page of life has turned,
Many a lesson I have learned;
Well, I feel like in those hills I still belong.

'Way down yonder in the Indian Nation
Ridin' my pony on the reservation,
In those Oklahoma hills where I was born.
Now, 'way down yonder in the Indian Nation,
A cowboy's life is my occupation,
In those Oklahoma hills where I was born.

But as I sit here today,
Many miles I am away
From a place I rode my pony through the draw,
While the oak and blackjack trees
Kiss the playful prairie breeze,
In those Oklahoma hills where I was born.

Now as I turn life a page
To the land of the great Osage
In those Oklahoma hills where I was born,
While the black oil it rolls and flows
And the snow-white cotton grows
In those Oklahoma hills where I was born.

[Cord Hurn]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVEgxYnQIxw

I love Cheyenne Anthem.

I like this live version where the bass player sings the "Indian children part."

I really enjoyed that video, Zar! Thanks for letting me know about it!

[Cord Hurn]

Thanks also to Vader and Linna for their contributions to this thread! I wasn't aware of those songs.

[Fist and Faith]

Thanks all of you! I hadn't realized there were new posts here.