Gordon Lightfoot: Cherokee bend

His father was a man who could never understandThe shame on a red mans faceSo they lived in the hills and they never came downBut to trade in the white mans placeIt was early in the spring when the snow had disappearedThey came down with a bag of skinsIn the fall of the year of 1910Daddy died by the rope down in cherokee bend.Daddy didnt like what the white man saidbout the dirty little kid at his sideDaddy didnt like what the white man didNor the deal or the way that he liedThere was blood on the floor of the government storeWhen the men took his daddy awayBut the boy stayed back till he come to his endAnd he run like the wind from cherokee bend.Now the mother was alone and the winter was at handAnd she prayed to her spirit kinIt was warm in the lodge in the kentucky hillsOn the day when the boy came inThen a blizzard came down and it covered up the doorTill they thought that it never would endAnd he told her the tale of the terrible affairIn the government store down in cherokee bendDaddy didnt like what the white man saidbout the dirty little kid at his sideDaddy didnt like what the white man didNor the deal or the way that he liedFor three long days and three long nightsThey wept and they mourned and thenShe returned to her work and her weavinAnd they tried to forget about cherokee bendNow the boy wasnt big but he hunted what he couldAnd they lived for a time that wayBut the food run low and the meat went badAnd she said to the boy one dayIm leaving tonight and I never will returnFrom the land of my spirit kinYou must take what you need and trade what you canFor a red mans grave down in cherokee bendIt wasnt very long till she closed her eyesAnd he wrapped her in a robeHe found her a place on the side of the hillAnd he buried her in the snowEarly in the spring he was seen in the townWith his load looking ragged and thinNot a year had gone by till he stood once againIn the government store down in cherokee bendHe was ten years tall and a redskin tooSo he hadnt much face to saveAnd the men sat around and they laughed and they clownedAt the talk of a criminals graveThen the man from the east didnt smile when he saidYoure the son of that indian scumIf you value your hide then you better abideBy the white mans rules here in cherokee bend.Daddy didnt like what the white man saidbout the dirty little kid at his sideDaddy didnt like what the white man didNor the deal or the way that he liedAnd he spit on the floor of the government storeAnd it served him to no good endAt the close of the day they had taken him awayTo the white mans school down at cherokee bendIts been 21 years since the boy disappearedWhere he run to, nobody knowsBut they say he fell in with a man named jimAnd he rides in the rodeosAnd they say he returns all alone to a placeHidden deep in the kentucky glenAnd its pretty well known who hauled up the stoneTo the grave on the hill above cherokee bendDaddy didnt like what the white man saidbout the dirty little kid at his sideDaddy didnt like what the white man didNor the deal or the way that he liedThere was blood on the floor of the government storeWhen the men took his daddy awayIt was 1910 and they never had a friendWhen he died by the rope down at cherokee bendIt was 1910 and they never had a friendWhen he died by the rope down at cherokee bend