Can you tell us the place where The Elders chew the sky soft The place where love is like A perfect knee-quilled arrow Flown from bows of pure willow And under the thundering roll of ghost buffalo Oh, can’t you hear the world’s heart breaking
For, it’s a test of courage To kiss the snake-tongued people The fork-tongued people And yes, it is a test of courage To kiss the snake-tongued people The fork-tongued people
‘Cause it’s like two tongues, at one time Like two tongues, at one time It’s like two tongues, at one time Like two tongues, at one time It’s like two tongues, at one time Like two tongues, at one time Like bitter spirits and sweet wine ‘Cause it’s like two tongues, at one time At one time
So, pour all of your souls like magma into the caverns Pour all of your souls like magma into the caverns Pour ‘em all for the hauntings, the hauntings, the hauntings And pour ‘em all for the hauntings, the hauntings, the hauntings And pour ‘em all for the hauntings And cool down for the hauntings And harden for the hauntings And now granite-soul You’re a hunter, hunter hunting Children of the wild plains And now granite-soul you’re a hunter Your hunter hunting children of the wild plains
And if my great-great-great-great-great-great-grandma Could find them she would put all of their poisoned All of their poisoned, poisoned teeth in her medicine bag In her medicine bag She’d make a graph of our death-beat pulse, murmur quiet Pulse, murmur quiet Like hiding pheasants in tall grass
Now there’s faces in the rocks And they’re coming on strong Faces in the rocks with medicine tongues Faces in the rocks feels like a million to one Woman and man in the moon with a cradle-board son Oh, braided ‘round close to all warmth is gone Gone
So, here, take these blankets Here, take these blankets Here, take these blankets They’re woven from the hair of the dead
The hair from your sisters Hair from your brothers Hair from your lovers Hair from the beavers Hair from the otters The hair from your mothers Hair from your fathers Hair from your lovers Hair from the beavers Hair from the otters
And we, we saw through you Like a candle through a buffalo’s eye And we, we stood by you Like a mama bear shot with her cubs at her side And we, we saw through you Like a candle through a buffalo’s eye