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