Cherokee Bend
Gordon Lightfoot

His father was a man who could never understand
The shame on a red man's face
So they lived in the hills and they never came down
But to trade in the white man's place
It was early in the spring when the snow had disappeared
They came down with a bag of skins
In the fall of the year of 1910
Daddy died by the rope down in Cherokee Bend.

Daddy didn't like what the white man said
'Bout the dirty little kid at his side
Daddy didn't like what the white man did
Nor the deal or the way that he lied
There was blood on the floor of the government store
When the men took his daddy away
But the boy stayed back till he come to his end
And he run like the wind from Cherokee Bend.

Now the mother was alone and the winter was at hand
And she prayed to her spirit kin
It was warm in the lodge in the Kentucky hills
On the day when the boy came in

Then a blizzard came down and it covered up the door
Till they thought that it never would end
And he told her the tale of the terrible affair
In the government store down in Cherokee Bend

Daddy didn't like what the white man said
'Bout the dirty little kid at his side
Daddy didn't like what the white man did
Nor the deal or the way that he lied

For three long days and three long nights
They wept and they mourned and then
She returned to her work and her weavin'
And they tried to forget about Cherokee Bend

Now the boy wasn't big but he hunted what he could
And they lived for a time that way
But the food run low and the meat went bad
And she said to the boy one day

I'm leaving tonight and I never will return
From the land of my Spirit Kin
You must take what you need and trade what you can
For a Red Man's grave down in Cherokee Bend

It wasn't very long till she closed her eyes
And he wrapped her in a robe
He found her a place on the side of the hill
And he buried her in the snow

Early in the spring he was seen in the town
With his load looking ragged and thin
Not a year had gone by till he stood once again
In the government store down in Cherokee Bend

He was ten years tall and a Redskin too
So he hadn't much face to save
And the men sat around and they laughed and they clowned
At the talk of a criminal's grave

Then the man from the east didn't smile when he said
You're the son of that Indian scum
If you value your hide then you better abide
By the white man's rules here in Cherokee Bend.

Daddy didn't like what the white man said
'Bout the dirty little kid at his side
Daddy didn't like what the white man did
Nor the deal or the way that he lied

And he spit on the floor of the government store
And it served him to no good end
At the close of the day they had taken him away
To the white man's school down at Cherokee Bend

It's been 21 years since the boy disappeared
Where he run to, nobody knows
But they say he fell in with a man named Jim
And he rides in the rodeos

And they say he returns all alone to a place
Hidden deep in the Kentucky glen
And it's pretty well known who hauled up the stone
To the grave on the hill above Cherokee Bend

Daddy didn't like what the white man said
'Bout the dirty little kid at his side
Daddy didn't like what the white man did
Nor the deal or the way that he lied

There was blood on the floor of the government store
When the men took his daddy away
It was 1910 and they never had a friend
When he died by the rope down at Cherokee Bend
It was 1910 and they never had a friend
When he died by the rope down at Cherokee Bend


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Lyrics by Gordon Lightfoot

  10 Degrees & Getting Colder   10 Degrees & Getting Colder   10 Degrees and Getting Colder   14 Carat Gold   14 Karat Gold   A Lesson In Love   A Message To The Wind   A Minor Ballad   A Painter Passing Through   A Passing Ship   A Tree Too Weak To Stand   Affair on 8th Avenue   Alberta Bound   All I'm After   All I'm After   All The Lovely Ladies   Always On The Bright Side   Anything for Love   Apology   Approaching Lavender   Baby It's Allright   Baby It's Allright   Baby Step Back   Ballad of Yarmouth Castle   Beautifuel   Beautiful   Bells Of The Evening   Bend In The Water   Betty Called Me In   Biscuit City   Bitter Green   Bitter Green   Black Day in July   Blackberry Wine   Boathouse   Borderstone   Boss Man   Brave Mountaineers   Broken Dreams   Cabaret   Can't Depend On Love   Can't Depend On Love   Canadian Railroad Trilogy   Canary Yellow Canoe   Carefree Highway   Changes   Christian Island   Christian Island (Georgian Bay)   Circle Is Small   Circle Of Steel   Clouds Of Loneliness   Cobwebs & Dust   Cobwebs & Dust   Cobwebs And Dust   Cobwebs Dust   Cold Hands From New York   Cold On The Shoulder   Cotton Jenny   Couchiching   Crossroads   Daylight Katy   Did She Mention My Name   Does Your Mother Know   Don Quixote   Don't Beat Me Down   Don't Beat Me Down   Dream Street Rose   Dreamland   Drifters   Drink Yer Glasses Empty   Early Mornin' Rain   Early Mornin' Rain   Early Morning Rain   East Of Midnight   Ecstasy Made Easy   End Of All Time   Endless Wire   Fading Away   Farewell To Annabel   Fine as Fine Can Be   First Time Ever I Saw Your Face   For Lovin' Me   For Lovin' Me - Did She Mention My Name   For Lovin' Me   Forgive Me Lord   Ghosts Of Cape Horn   Ghosts of Cape Horn [*]   Go Go Round   Go My Way   Go-Go Round   Gotta Get Away   Gypsy   Gypsy   Hangdog Hotel Room   Harmony   Heaven Don't Deserve Me   Heaven Don't Deserve Me   Heaven Help The Devil   Hey You   Hi'Way Songs   Hi'way Songs   High And Dry   Home From The Forest   House You Live In   I Used To be A Country Singer   I Want To Hear It From You   I'd Do It Again   I'd Rather Press On   I'll Be Alright   I'll Do Anything   I'll Prove My Love   I'll Tag Along   I'm Not Sayin'   I'm Not Sayin' / Ribbon of Darkness   I'm Not Sayin' \/ Ribbon of Darkness   I'm Not Sayin'/Ribbon Of Darkness   I'm Not Supposed to Care   I'd Do It Again   I'd Rather Press On   I'll Be Alright   I'll Do Anything   I'll Prove My Love   I'll Tag Along   I'm Not Sayin'   I'm Not Sayin'/Ribbon Of Darkness   I'm Not Supposed To Care   If Children Had Wings   If I Could   If It Should Please You   If It Should Please You [#]   If There's A Reason   If There's A Reason   If You Could Read My Mind   If You Could Read My Mind (Studio 54)   If You Could Read My Mind [DVD]   If You Got It   If You Need Me   In A Windowpane   In My Fashion   In The Early Mornin' Rain   In The Early Mornin' Rain   Inspiration Lady   Is There Anyone Home   It's Too Late, He Wins   It's Worth Believin'   It's Too Late, He Wins   It's Worth Believin'   Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues   Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues   Keepin' On Yearning   Keepin' On Yearning   Knotty Pine   Last Time I Saw Her   Last Time I Saw Her   Lazy Mornin'   Lazy Mornin'   Leaves of Grass   Let It Ride   Lifeline   Long River   Long Thin Dawn   Long Way Back Home   Looking at The Rain   Love & Maple Syrup   Love & Maple Syrup   Love and Maple Syrup   Magnificent Outpouring   Make Way For The Lady   Mama Said   Marie Christine   May I   Me & Bobby Mcgee   Me And Bobby McGee   Miguel   Minstrel of The Dawn   Mister Rock Of Ages   Morning Glory   Mother Of A Miner's Child   Mother Of A Miner's Child   Mountains & Marian   Mountains And Marian   Mountains and Maryann   Movin'   Movin'   Much To My Surprise   My Little Love   My Pony Won't Go   My Pony Won't Go   Never Say Trust Me   Never Too Close   Nous Vivons Ensemble   Now & Then   Now And Then   Ode to Big Blue   Oh Linda   Oh, Linda   Old Dan's Records   Old Dan's Records   On Susan's Floor   On Susan's Floor   On The High Seas   On Yonge Street   Only Love Would Know   Ordinary Man   Peaceful Waters   Pony Man   Poor Little Allison   Pride Of Man   Protocol   Pussy Willows, Cat Tails   Pussywillows, Cat-Tails   Pussywillows, Cattails   Race Among The Ruins   Rainbow Trout   Rainy Day People   Red Velvet   Redwood Hill   Remember Me   Restless   Ribbon Of Darkness   Rich Man's Spiritual   Rich Man's Spiritual   Ring Them Bells   Ringneck Loon   Romance   Rosanna   Salute   Salute (A Lot More Livin' To Do)   Same Old Loverman   Saturday Clothes   Sea Of Tranquility   Second Cup of Coffee   Seven Island Suite   Shadows   She's Not The Same   She's Not The Same   Sit Down Young Stranger   Sixteen Miles   Slide On Over   Softly   Someone To Believe In   Something Very Special   Sometimes I Don't Mind   Sometimes I Don't Mind   Sometimes I Wish   Somewhere U. S. a.   Somewhere U.S.A.   Song for a Winter's Night   Song For A Winter's Night   Songs The Minstrel Sang   Spanish Moss   Spin, Spin   Station Master   Stay Loose   Steel Rail Blues   Stone Cold Sober   Summer Side of Life   Summertime Dream   Sundown   Sweet Guinevere   Talking In Your Sleep   Tattoo   Thank You for The Promises   That Same Old Obsession   The Auctioneer   The Circle Is Small   The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face   The Gypsy   The House You Live In   The Last Time I Saw Her   The List   The Lost Children   The Mountains and Maryann   The Patriot's Dream   The Pony Man   The Soul Is The Rock   The Watchman's Gone   The Way I Feel   The Way I Feel (In Album The Way I Feel)   The Way I Feel [Acoustic]   The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald   Too Late for Prayin'   Too Many Clues In This Room   Too Much to Lose   Triangle   Uncle Toad Said   Unsettled Ways   Waiting For You   Walls   Welcome To Try   Wherefor and Why   Wherefore & Why   Wherefore And Why   Whisper My Name   Whispers of The North   Why Should I Feel Blue   Wild Strawberries   Without You   Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald   You Are What I Am   You Just Gotta Be   You'll Still Be Needing Me   Your Love's Return

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