Among The Americans Lyrics

[ music: Robert Buck & Dennis Drew/lyric: Natalie Merchant ]



dance to the sun 
a kiss to the earth 
embrace a stone 

come the small black book 
come the brandy cask 
one strange disease 
the well worded paper 
signed by the drunken 
hands of thieves 

and suddenly 
they were told to leave 

as the snake uncoiled on a road 
the length was eighty miles 
wagons' weary horses 
lead the feverish exiles 
barefoot in the early snow 
on a ridge 
where they beheld their home 
coarse and barren 
not the haven 
promised by the Father 

Jaksa Chula Harjo 
Jaksa Chula Harjo 
Jaksa Chula Harjo ** 

the Red Sticks first and 
the Dancing Ghosts were 
pierced with arms of fire 
and the weeping widows 
left could not avenge 
so the Western Star manifest its will 
drove them clear into the Pacific O 

gone the way of flesh 
turned pale and died 
by your god's decree 

for he hated me 

** Cherokee name for Andrew Jackson 
the 7th president of the U.S.A.