Gordon Lightfoot - Cherokee Bend
CAPO: 4th Fret
[INTRO:] Dm
[VERSE 1:]
His father was a man who could never understand
F
The shame on a red man's face
Dm
So they lived in the hills and they never came down
A7
But to trade in the white man's place
[VERSE 2:]
Dm
It was early in the spring when the snow had disappeared
F
They came down with a bag of skins
Dm
In the fall of the year of 1910
A7 Dm
Daddy died by the rope down in Cherokee Bend
[CHORUS:]
Gm
Daddy didn't like what the white man said
A7
'Bout the dirty little kid at his side
Gm
Daddy didn't like what the white man did
A7
Nor the deal or the way that he lied
[VERSE 3:]
Dm
There was blood on the floor of the government store
F
When the men took his daddy away
Dm
But the boy stayed back till he come to his end
A7 Dm
And he run like the wind from Cherokee Bend
[VERSE 4:]
Dm
Now the mother was alone and the winter was at hand
F
And she prayed to her spirit kin
Dm
It was warm in the lodge in the Kentucky hills
A7
On the day when the boy came in
[VERSE 5:]
Dm
Then a blizzard came down and it covered up the door
F
Till they thought that it never would end
Dm
And he told her the tale of the terrible affair
A7 Dm
In the government store down in Cherokee Bend
[CHORUS:]
Gm
Daddy didn't like what the white man said
A7
'Bout the dirty little kid at his side
Gm
Daddy didn't like what the white man did
A7
Nor the deal or the way that he lied
[VERSE 6:]
Dm
For three long days and three long nights
F
They wept and they mourned and then
Dm
She returned to her work and her weaving
A7 Dm
And they tried to forget about Cherokee Bend
[VERSE 7:]
Dm
Now the boy wasn't big, but he hunted what he could
F
And they lived for a time that way
Dm
But the food run low and the meat went bad
A7
And she said to the boy one day
[VERSE 8:]
Dm
"I'm leaving tonight and I never will return
F
From the land of my Spirit Kin
Dm
You must take what you need and trade what you can
A7 Dm
For a Red Man's grave down in Cherokee Bend"
[CHORUS:]
Gm
It wasn't very long till she closed her eyes
A7
And he wrapped her in a robe
Gm
He found her a place on the side of the hill
A7
And he buried her in the snow
[VERSE 9:]
Dm
Early in the spring he was seen in the town
F
With his load, looking ragged and thin
Dm
Not a year had gone by when he stood once again
A7 Dm
In the government store down in Cherokee Bend
[VERSE 10:]
Dm
He was ten years tall and a Redskin too
F
So he hadn't much face to save
Dm
And the men sat around and they laughed and they clowned
A7
At the talk of a criminal's grave
[VERSE 11:]
Dm
Then the man from the east didn't smile when he said
F
"You're the son of that Indian scum
Dm
If you value your hide then you better abide
A7 Dm
By the white man's rules, here in Cherokee Bend"
[CHORUS:]
Gm
Daddy didn't like what the white man said
A7
'Bout the dirty little kid at his side
Gm
Daddy didn't like what the white man did
A7
Nor the deal or the way that he lied
[VERSE 12:]
Dm
Then he spit on the floor of the government store
F
And it served him to no good end
Dm
At the close of the day they had taken him away
A7 Dm
To the white man's school down in Cherokee Bend
[VERSE 13:]
Dm
It's been 21 years since the boy disappeared
F
Where he run to, nobody knows
Dm
But they say he fell in with a man named Jim
A7
And he rides in the rodeos
[VERSE 14:]
Dm
They say he returned all alone to a place
F
Hidden deep in the Kentucky glen
Dm
And it's pretty well known who hauled up the stone
A7 Dm
To the grave on the hill above Cherokee Bend
[CHORUS:]
Gm
Daddy didn't like what the white man said
A7
'Bout the dirty little kid at his side
Gm
Daddy didn't like what the white man did
A7
Nor the deal or the way that he lied
[VERSE 15:]
Dm
There was blood on the floor of the government store
F
When the men took his daddy away
Dm
It was 1910 and they never had a friend
A7 Dm
When he died by the rope down at Cherokee Bend
Dm
It was 1910 and they never had a friend
A7 Dm
When he died by the rope down at Cherokee Bend
