Badlands: Ballads of the Lakota - Lyrics

Badlands

Well somewhere between the wanting and the dying
Just beyond the thunder, of the gun
The bones of thirsty ghosts are sad and crying
Believing their redemption day has come and gone

It's a bitter pair of dice this dust of evil
Lost and lonely kingdom, of the plains
Well God looked down and saw a world of suffering
And then cried out, I'm gonna give this place a name.

Badlands
Badlands
Badlands
Badlands

Well it's a church without a steeple
But in the heart of its people
Good will come again, to the Badlands

It's a wilderness that lies, in a broken promise land
Where the devil and his soldiers, hang around like next of kin
But the shadows have eyes, and I hear voices in the wind
Telling me the second coming of the red man, is closer than it's ever been

Badlands
Badlands
Badlands
Badlands

Well it's a church without a steeple
But in the heart of its people
Good will come again, to the Badlands

Badlands
Badlands
Badlands
Badlands

Trip To Little Big Horn

I went to Little Big Horn, not a single word was said
Except one old lonely ghost said "the General's still dead"
The General's still dead."

I asked him if any Indians, ever came to call
He said the last one that he'd seen, rode off with big Chief Gall
Rode off with big Chief Gall

Ole Sitting Bull once told me, on this very ground
He saw blue coat pony soldiers, falling upside down
Falling upside down

There was not a single leaf on a cottonwood tree
They were gone as the men of the 7th Calvary
7th Calvary

I stood on Calhoun's Hill, rain fell like shattered glass
I felt 12,000 solders blood flowing through the grass
Flowing through the grass

I saw 100 years of Indians, dancing in the sun
I felt the Indian power. The battle is still won
The battle is still won

When they shot him through the heart, I wonder if it hurt
They left Mrs. Custer's husband to die there in the dirt
Die there in the dirt

Then a soldier came, and took me to the train
He said "Custer's still in Hell, boy, forget you ever came
Forget you ever came."

I went to Little Big Horn, not a single word was said
Except one old lonely ghost said "The general's still dead
The general's still dead."

Old Man's Vision

There was an esteemed Lakota elder
A man of visions, who laid dying at his home
Surrounded by his family and friends
His journey on this earth was fast coming to an end

One by one, they touched his hands, stroked his silver hair
Sang him songs and kissed him on his brow
His mind wandered between this world and the unseen
Some thought it was the fever talking

But his sister, knowing his gift of visions
Summoned the Medicine man to come and pray for his comfort
And to listen to his words

When he arrived, the elder asked the Holy Man to bring him his pipe
A family member handed the Medicine Man his pipe
And he granted the dying man's request

When he placed it in his arms, he closed his eyes
And softly whispered
"Twenty years from this day, I see blood and countless tears
Flowing across the ground of Wounded Knee
It is not clear to me why so many people will die
Not only our warriors, but our women, our children,
The young and the old, even the four leggeds
They too will be murdered

All will be buried as one in an icy cold grave
There will be no punishment to the murders of our people
Only the dreams they see at night will be their torture
And their sentence of shame
This is my vision

My time has now come and I have but one final request
When I draw my last breath
Take me to Wounded Knee, and bury me there
For it is there that I wish for my spirit to linger
Long enough to warn the others of this great tragedy that
Our future holds."

Wounded Knee

Big Foot do you hear me, my vision's growing dim
Tell the Holy Father, that I must talk to him
Every breath I take, draws me closer home
When I cross that river, will I be alone

Won't you take my body down to Wounded Knee
Take my body down to Wounded Knee
Where the spirit can be found. There's power in the ground
The wind will set me free at Wounded knee

Behold I see a canyon where many souls will die
Behold I see a world that will always wonder why
Tell me ole Red Cloud, this vision in my head
I see 300 soldiers, am I alive or am I dead

Won't you take my body down to Wounded Knee
Take my body down to Wounded Knee
Where the spirit can be found. There's power in the ground
The wind will set me free at Wounded Knee

Quickly my old friend, look into my eyes
The past is slowly fading and the future's in disguised
Before I leave this earth, sing me one more song
And when you hear me laugh, then you'll know that I am gone

Won't you take my body down to Wounded Knee
Take my body down to Wounded Knee
Where the spirit can be found, there's power in the ground
The wind will set me free at Wounded Knee
Wounded Knee
Wounded Knee
Wounded Knee
Wounded Knee

Big Foot

Big Foot was an Indian chief
Of the Minneconjou band
A band of Minneconjou Sioux
From South Dakota's land

Big Food said to Custer
"Stay away from that Crazy Horse"
But Custer crossed into Sioux land
And he never came back across

Then Big Foot led his people
To a place called Wounded Knee
And they found themselves surrounded
By the 7th Calvary

Big Foot Big Foot
Rise up from your bed
Minneconjou babies cry
For their mothers, lying dead

Big Foot was down with a fever
When he reached Wounded Knee
And his people all were prisoners
Of the 7th Calvary

Two hundred women and children
And other hundred men
Raised up a white flag of peace
But peace did not begin

An accidental gunshot
And Big Foot was first to die
And over the noise of the rifles
You could hear them babies cry

Big Foot Big Foot
It's good that you can't see
Revenge is being wrought
By Custer's 7th Calvary

Smoke hung over the canyon
On that cold December day
All was death and dying
Around where Big Foot lay

Farther up on the canyon
Some had tried to run and hide
But death showed no favorites
Women, men, and children died

One side called it a massacre
The other a victory
But the white flag is still waving
Today at Wounded Knee

Big Foot Big Foot
Your Minneconjou band
Is more than remembered here
In South Dakota land

Big Foot Big Foot
Your Minneconjou band
Is more than remembered here
In South Dakota land

Broken Promise Land

Well an eagle flew high above Red Shirt Table
Over Marvin Helper's place
As Air Force One flew President Clinton
To Ellsworth Air Force Base

He brought with him from Washington
A bag filled with dreams and cake
To spread among the poor and
The poorest county in the whole United States

One mile long, a big black car
And whirleybirds did a jig
As they moved across the prairie
To the planet of Pine Ridge

Where the FBI and the CIA,
The AIM, the BIA, the IRS and GOD
All had their eyes set on the master plan
But it all turned out to be, just another shattered dream
In a broken promise land

The president said to the people
We know the failings of the past
You've been patronized, tyrannized
But help Is here at last

Our nation, she is mighty,
These are good and prosperous times
I offer you an America where no one is left behind

Your courage leads to commerce,
prosperity and loans
I see housing for the homeless
coz everybody needs a home

Majestic people of the plains like you
deserve Security
As founders of our country
You've already paid for the land of the free

Where the FBI and the CIA,
the AIM, the BIA, the IRS and GOD
All have their eyes set on the master plan.
But it all turned out to be, just another shattered dream
And a broken promise land

Well the prez on the res sold some powerful words
Of how the native life should be
He watered the spirits of the people
The crop came up dust and wheat

And in the distance of the harvest
The only thing that changed
Was the color of the leaves on the hawthorn trees
The rest is still the same

In July 1999, the president went door to door
Staring down the barrel of the cold hard truth
On his American poverty tour

Pine Ridge, South Dakota
Was to be empowered on command
But it all turned out to be
Just another shattered dream
And a broken promise land

Casino

They built a casino, out under the stars
With neon lights blinking, on tired rusty cars
Card sharks take my money, whiskey puts me in jail
An oasis of misery, I know it so well

I pawned my last silver, it sparkled and shined
And a beautiful ring, from the Black Hills gold mines
A hole in my pocket, that money did burn
A loser beyond, the point of return

My woman couldn't take, my Friday night ways
She left me in search of, her better days
Now I'm tortured by silence, and being alone
And the shadows of evil, that inherit my bones

So it's back to the place, where I gamble on hope (I've gambled all hope)
My name once respected, is now but a joke
As I stumble back home, I murmur a prayer
I can't help but wonder, is God really there

So You Want To Be An Indian

So you want to be an Indian, an original American
Ride a horse, wild and free, put war paint on your skin
You think my life's a story, like a movie on TV
But if you want a taste of Hell on earth,
Come hang around with me

So you want to be an Indian, out where the buffalo roam
A peaceful place on planet earth, that you can call your home
Where streams of crystal waters, once flowed with red man's pride
But they've disappeared like forgotten dreams
That have gone away and died

So you want to be an Indian, living on the land
That was stolen from our grandpa by dear old Uncle Sam
Who sent soldier after soldier, to tell us what was right
But politicians nor their armies, can turn an Indian white

So you want to be an Indian, can you say "poverty"
If the great white hope in Washington, would send what belongs to me
I'd have blankets in the winter
I wouldn't have to be so cold
And have something to eat besides government cheese
To feed my hungry soul

So you want to be an Indian, a noble honored chief
And try to walk a holy road, in dignity and peace
Hold the vision of America in the palm of your hand
And watch the free world pass you by
And not give one single damn

Walking Through The Prayers

Blackbirds flying, through the darkness
Shooting stars, out in space
Unseen spirits, like phantoms hover
Like cherub bells from the holy place
Over trees, that died in fire
Lifeless forms, on a mountain range
A land that knows, so many secrets
Keeper of the, a billion names

Step by step, I see my shadow
My true soul, walks with me there
I shed my tears, I climb this mountain
As I go walking, through the prayers

Some have prayed, a prayer for freedom
Some beg mercy, for their pain
Some have shared, life's dreams and visions
When they came down, they weren't the same

Step by step, I see my shadow
My true soul, walks with me there
I shed my tears, I climb this mountain
As I go walking, through the prayers

Majestic form, atop earth's mesa
The rocks bear witness, to the truth
As I kneel down, and lift my spirit
To the holy wonder, at Bear Beat

I shed my tears, I climb this mountain
As I go walking, through the prayers

Three Chiefs

In a 4 by room at Pine Ridge, on a cold December day
A spirit come down from the heaven world to take Red Cloud away
Mary and Jesus and the stars and stripes, looked down on his bed
Women brought snow in off the ground, to cool his fevered head
When the dust of his wars rolled in from the past,
Like storm clouds gathered from time.
He knew his day on earth had come, to make his peace and die

He raised his hand for mercy, surrendered his last breath of life
Then six white horses came into the room, and took him to the sky
Where he stood face to face with a mysterious form at the edge of eternity
God said "Hello, Red Cloud, now say what you will to me."

Red Cloud said, "I hope the great heavenly father who looks upon us
Will give all the tribes his blessings that they may go forth in peace
And live in peace all their days.
And that our Heavenly Father will look upon our children as his children
That all tribes may be his children.
And as we shake hands today on this broad plain, may we forever live in peace.
Now my sun is set. My day is done.
Just like the book says from the days of old, no cross, no crown.
At the end of the life, at the setting sun, we lay our burdens down.
We lay our burdens down.

When Sitting Bull laid down to sleep, he didn't know when the mornin' come
That red tomahawk and police force, armed with blazing guns
Would storm into his cabin and drag him from his bed
Throw him in the yard like a mangy dog where he was shot and left for dead

Murdered by McLaughlin's men, he never even had a chance.
All because he stayed true to the ghost in his heart and wouldn't give up the dance.
His horse started spinin' and twirlin', the world went round and round
Everybody saw Sitting Bull's body but his soul was nowhere to be found.

He stood face to face with a mysterious form at the edge of eternity.
God said, "Hello Sitting Bull, now say what you will to me."
"You made me an Indian and I thank you, but Father now I ask you
What treaty have the Sioux made with the white man that we have broken.
Not one
And what treaty has the white man ever made with us that they have kept
Not one
Is it wrong for me to love my own and defend them?
Is it wicked for me because my skin red or because I am a Sioux?
I gladly died for my people. And my country because I am an Indian."

Just like the book said from the days of old, no cross, no crown.
At the end of the life, at the setting sun, we lay our burdens down
We lay our burdens down.

In a jailhouse in Nebraska, it was on September 5,
Crazy Horse was fighting hard to keep himself alive.
He screamed just like a panther, at the sight of a guardhouse door,
Stabbed in the back by a soldier's dagger, Crazy Horse fell down on the floor.
He was the last warrior standing, defending the old way of life.
Where mountains sing and ponies run, like smoke from the sacred pipe
Touch the Clouds took his body, back home to his family,
Nobody knows where they laid him down, to set his spirit free

He stood face to face with a mysterious form at the edge of eternity
God said, "Hello Crazy Horse, now say what you will to me."

"Upon suffering. Beyond suffering. The Red Nation shall rise again.
And it shall be a blessing for a sick world.
A world filled with broken promises. Selfishness and separations.
A world longing for light again.
I see a time of seven generations when all of the colors of mankind
Will gather under the sacred tree of life.
And the whole earth will become one circle again.
And that day, there will be those among The Lakota,
Who will carry knowledge and understanding of unity among all living things.
And the young white ones will come to those of my people and ask for this wisdom.
I salute the light within your eyes, for the whole universe dwells
For when you are at that center within you,
And I am at that place within me,
We shall be one."

Three men, three warriors, good and noble chiefs.
Prophets to their people, may they rest a while in peace.
Their words echo like thunder through the canyons at time.
And shine like a flaming arrow in a world, in a world
The truth is hard to find.
No cross, no crown
No cross, no crown
No cross, no crown

Listen To The Children

Should you go out today, to reservation land
Look into the eyes, of the first Americans
Three hundred years of suffering, is what you're gonna find
If you believe the time has come for healing, Step on your side of the line

I see the face of a child, whose time is drawing near
Born to lead the people, to new waters that are clear
Guided by the Holy Spirit, everywhere he goes
To finish what was started, on the ancient Red Man's road.

The prophecy's spoken, the past, shall be fulfilled at last.
As we listen to the children, listen to the children
Listen to the children
Listen to the children, listen to the children
Listen to the children

In the Badlands, Badlands, Badlands, Badlands
Badlands, Badlands, Badlands, Badlands