From the recording Old Memories
Written by Neil w Young
Copyright Neil w Young Restless Wind Records
The lyrics were inspired by the arrest of George Beaver for treason and the subsequent March 1959 bloodless revolution on the Six Nations reservation in southwestern Ontario, Canada (an event that I remember) by 1,000 warriors led by Wallace Mad Bear Anderson declaring that the elected council had taken office illegally and acclaiming the hereditary chiefs as the new government, and declaring the RCMP had been illegally established on the reserve, branding them as trespassers.
Lead vocals | Neil w Young
Lyrics
Cool desert evening, I'm a long way from home
Thought I heard a sound, chills the bone
Thought it was comin' from the past, thought I heard my name
Thought I heard voices singing, “We will rise again.”
“This is the land of our people, this land is our home
This is the land of our spirits, it holds our sacred bones
This land is home to our children
It was passed from tomb to tomb by our Creator
Into the hands of our fathers, from their mother's wombs.”
The times, they're a-changin'
Nothing stays the same
Things that happened then
Now white men can't explain
Thought I heard voices singing,
“We will rise again.
“We will rise again.”
Woke up in the morning, felt wet where I'd been layin'
Thought I heard voices saying, “It's just the warm desert rain
It's filled with tears from our people
From two hundred years of pain
Things that happened then
Now white men can't explain.”
The times, they're a-changin'
Nothing stays the same
Things that happened then
Now white men can't explain
Thought I heard voices singing,
“We will rise again.”
“From the mountains and the rivers
The valleys and the plains
Our drums will call our spirits
To rise up again
Where the buffalo roam
Deer and antelope play
Where eagles soar high keeping
Watch over warrior's graves.”
“Take a message to you people, tell them things you heard
On the blood of our fathers, we live and die by our word.”
Cool desert morning, I'm a long way from home
Thought I heard voices singing, chills the bone
The times, they're a-changin'
Nothing stays the same
Things that happened then
Now white men can't explain
Thought I heard voices singing,
“We will rise again …
”We will rise again ...”
Copyright © 2006 - 2010 Neil w Young Restless Wind Records All Rights Reserved