Cherokee Band
Em
1. 1. His Daddy was a man who could never understand
G
the shame on a red man's face,
Em B7 Em
so they lived in the hills and
they never came down,
B7 Em
but to trade in the white
man's place.
Em
1. 2. Early in the spring, when the snow had disappeared,
G
they came down with a bag of
skins
Em B7Em
in the fall of the year of 1910
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Daddy died by the rope down in
Cherokee Bend,
Am
Daddy didn't like what the
white man said
B7
'bout the dirty little kid at
his side,
Am
Daddy didn't like what the
white man did,
B7
nor the deal or the way that
he lied.
Em
1. 3. There was blood on the floor of the government store,
G
when the men took his daddy
away,
Em B7 Em
but the boy stayed back till
he come to his end,
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then he run
like the wind from Cherokee Bend.
Em
2. 1. Now, the mother was alone and the winter was again,
G
and she prayed to her spirit
kin,
Em B7 Em
it was warm in the lodge in
the
B7
Em
on the day
when the boy came in.
Em
2. 2. Then a blizzard came down and it covered up the door,
G
till they thought that it
never would end,
Em B7 Em
and he told her the tale of
the terrible affair
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- Em
in the
government store down in Cherokee Bend.
Am
Daddy didn't like what the
white man said
B7
'bout the dirty little kid at
his side,
Am
Daddy didn't like what the
white man did,
B7
nor the deal or the way that he lied.
Em
2. 3. For three long days and three long nights
G
they wept and they mourned and
then
Em B7Em
she returned to her work and
her weaving,
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- - Em ~ ~
and they tried to forget about
Cherokee Bend.
Em
3. 1. Now, the boy wasn't big, but he hunted what he could,
G
and they lived for a time that
way,
Em B7 Em
but the food run low and the
meat went bad,
B7 Em
and she said to the boy one day :
Em
3. 2. “I'm leaving tonight and I never will return
G
from the land of my Spirit Kin,
Em B7
Em
you must take what you need
and trade what you can,
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Em
for a Red
Man's grave down in Cherokee Bend.”
Am
It wasn't very long till she
closed her eyes,
B7
and he wrapped her in a robe,
Am
he found her a place on the
side of the hill,
B7
and he buried her in the snow.
Em
3. 3. Early in the spring he was seen in the town
G
with his load looking ragged
and thin,
Em B7
Em
not a year had gone by, till
he stood once again
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- Em ~ ~
in the
government store down in Cherokee Bend.
Em
4. 1. He was ten years, tall, and a Redskin, too,
G
so he hadn't much face to save,
Em B7
Em
and the men sat around and
they laughed and they clowned
B7 Em
at the talk
of a criminal's grave.
Em
4. 2. Then the man from the east didn't smile when he said,
G
“You're the son of that Indian
scum,
Em B7 Em
if you value your hide then
you better abide
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by the white man's rules here
in Cherokee Bend.”
Am
Daddy didn't like what the
white man said
B7
'bout the dirty little kid at
his side,
Am
Daddy didn't like what the
white man did,
B7
nor the deal or the way that
he lied.
Em
4. 3. And he spit on the floor of the government store,
G
and it served him to no good
end,
Em B7 Em
at the close of the day they
had taken him away
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to the white
man's school down at Cherokee Bend.
Em
5. 1. It's been 21 years since the boy disappeared,
G
where he run
to, nobody knows,
Em B7 Em
but they say he fell in with a
man named Jim,
B7 Em
and he rides in the rodeo.
Em
5. 2. And they say he returns all alone to a place,
G
hidden deep in the
Em B7
Em
and it's pretty well known who
hauled up the stone
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to the grave
on the hill above Cherokee Bend.
Am
Daddy didn't like what the
white man said
B7
'bout the dirty little kid at
his side,
Am
Daddy didn't like what the
white man did,
B7
nor the deal or the way that
he lied.
Em
5. 3. There was blood on the floor of the government store,
G
when the men took his daddy
away,
Em B7 Em
it was 1910 and they never had
a friend,
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when he died
by the rope down at Cherokee Bend.
Em B7 Em
It was 1910 and they never had
a friend,
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when he died
by the rope down at Cherokee Bend.
(orig. = capo 2nd) (Gordon
Lightfoot)