Lyrics: Noble Heart

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BRIGHT PATH

Dedicated to the man who is worthy of recognition as the twentieth century’s greatest athlete.

Note: Alternate lyrics from the Buckskin Poet Society album, and from the Noble Heart album, are shown in italics.
Narrative is show in Bold.

From the stars a Bright Path came

Leaving behind an infant boy

O’er the waves of the plains

An Indian son did rise

From the clan of Black Hawk

Who survived the U.S. wrath

They stole the sparkle from his spirit

Will they give it back

To Bright Path?

Seasons turned the boy to man

Races run and rivers swam

Footprints in his father’s pace

Through thirty mile days

In the hunt or in the chase

Of horses on the range

Swift and sure, so strong and pure

They beamed across the plains

On a Bright Path

A young heart forged by a native sun

Would depart into a world unknown

School loomed supreme when the buffalo were gone

So across the empty prairies he did go

His father said, He said,

“Son, you are a Black Hawk

Now, go and show the world what you can do.

Go now and show the world what you can do.”

From the hills of Pennsylvania,

Carlisle beckoned to the tribes

Offering an education

so they could survive

Jim Thorpe emerged from Bright Path’s shadow

Leaving home behind

With his legs and toe he ferried

Pigskins cross the line

On a Bright Path

On the battle fields of college

Powerhouses came to play

Penn State, Syracuse and Army

There among the fray

Pop Warner led his Carlisle Redmen

Through the foes before

Through his line with flashing thunder

”Katie bar the door”

For Bright Path

When the Earth’s call came for Olympians

Jim stood tall, proud to be chosen.

The ten-event gold medal was placed upon his chest

Our anthem played and U.S. flag unfurled

Sweden’s king said, He said,

“Sir, you are the greatest.

Yes, you’re the greatest athlete in the world.

You are the greatest athlete in the world.”

Back in school, with fluid passion

One more season still to play

Jim and Pop’s inspired Redskins

Blew their foes away

When the gridiron wars were settled,

Carlisle whipped ‘em all

Number one in the whole nation

By the end of fall

Was Bright Path!

Like a cold blade laid on a beating heart

Gloom settled in and then tore apart

When news disclosed a teenage Jim was paid in summer leagues

They demanded back the medals he received

The letter read: From the AAU it said:

“We regret that we allowed Jim Thorpe to compete.

We must erase the record of his feats.

Yes, we’ll erase the record of his feat.”

(Musical interlude)

As a twin sport Pro he traveled

A superstar in perfect grace

Pro football’s first star and founder

Baseball’s happy face

With the century half over

A.P. took the vote

The greatest gridder and best athlete

It wasn’t even close

Was Bright Path

In ’53 Jim’s path joined a brighter sky

To the stars he returned as his body died

Thirty winters later, justice swung in toil

It troubled those whose consciences were soiled.

His name restored...

By 1984 in the summer games in Los Angeles,

Jim Thorpe's medals were restored to his family,

and his records were restored to the books.

From the stars a Bright Path came

Leaving behind an infant boy

O’er the waves of the plains

An Indian son did rise

From the clan of Black Hawk

Who survived the U.S. wrath

They stole the sparkle from his spirit

Finally gave it back

To Bright Path!

HUDSON BAY BLUES

In 1793, the Hudson’s Bay Company established the first trading posts in Blackfeet Indian country. Life was never the same.

I was riding on my pony hunting bison on the plains

When the moccasin telegraph reported something strange

There was someone building lodges made with stone and logs

They had bushes on their faces and funky looking dogs

They were loading off big bundles from triple wide canoes

Full of trading items, out of sight, Creation sang the blues.

“Tomorrow’s our grand opening. Grab your robes and furs.

We’ll wheel and deal and feast and drink until you Injuns purr”.

We didn’t know shopping

We didn’t go shopping

We didn’t start shopping

Till the Hudson’s Bay Company

With horses and dogs all piled high with skins

It was unfamiliar territory we had wandered in

A bushy faced Napikwan (White Man) said, “Sit, we’ll smoke and drink.”

As we prepared our sacred pipe, those Napikwans just winked.

When the smoke was over, they said, “We’ve got a gift for you

That’ll fill your head with visions, Make you strong and happy, too.”

We didn’t quite know what to think before we drank that rum.

It was firewater, devil starter, rabbit on the run.

They got us ready for shopping

They got us ready for shopping.

Yeah, we were ready for shopping

At the Hudson’s Bay Company

We wanted…

Flint locks, wool socks,

Coffee beans, denim jeans,

Iron awls, musket balls,

Powder horns and pretty shawls

Blankets, buttons, bolts of flannel,

Silver bells and tallow candles,

Sugar, flour, dark molasses

Colored beads and looking glasses

Pale ale, gin and brandy,

Fine wine and hard rock candy

Ride through service was...

Awful handy!

We couldn’t stop shopping

We wouldn't stop shopping

We couldn’t stop shopping

At the Hudson’s Bay Company

Now we’ve got…

Spandex, gore-tex,

Nike Airs, gummy bears,

Ceiling fans, fryin’ pans,

Turkey, veal, shrimp or Spam

Sales cycles, sports rackets,

Roller blades and team jackets.

Keyboards to surf the net on a tidal wave of debt

MasterCard, Visa Card,

Christopher Columbus Card

American Express, Oh Lord,

Every kind of card.

Oh, we can’t stop shopping

We can’t stop shopping

At the Hudson’s Bay Company.

Oh, we can’t stop shopping

We can’t stop shopping

At the Hudson’s Bay Company.

NAVAJO CODE TALKERS

Dedicated to the largely unsung heroes of the Pacific Theater during World War II

On December 7th of '41, the Japanese struck our shore

The tentacles of the Axis powers had pulled this land to war

Down in the mile-high western desert, homeland to the Navajo

Marines were lookin’ for a few good men to go…

In the hot dry southwestern sun the volunteers took the oath

To defend this U.S. soil though none of them could vote

From their mother tongue they were told to devise a code

That they alone, the Navajo, would know.

Code Talkers,

communicating freely through the hot fire of tyranny

Code Talkers,

sending and receiving combat orders for our military

Kit Carson pillaged their homes in '64

For the nation who now called their men to war.

As the pain shimmered in the elders' eyes, the bitterness swept aside

To see their young sons join the ranks of the stars and stripes

From Guadalcanal to Okinawa their weapon was their speech

That the Church and boarding schools refused to teach.

Code Talkers,

communicating freely through the hot fire of tyranny

Code Talkers,

sending and receiving combat orders for our military

Kit Carson pillaged their homes in '64

For the nation who now called her men to war

Changing Woman Suite

In the beginning

First Man and First Woman lived as one,

The first couple forged the Sun

And the moon was formed from rock crystal,

Mystery filled the Earth before darkness fled the dawn

In a cradleboard of sunrays and rainbows came a girl

She nursed on dew and pollen from her mom

Changing Woman,

the earth’s most beautiful one

Changing Woman,

who created everyone

From sacred cornmeal and the flesh from her own skin

The People came to be called Dineh

‘Twas born twin heroes,

Monster Slayer and Child Born of Water

They liberated everyone.

They roamed the earth hunting down the monster foes

Till there was peace – Hozho

From sacred cornmeal and the flesh, from her own skin

The People came to be called Dineh

CODE TALKERS

So lonigo do na dal hal (s) be kad

No dabi shi dah cah yeh hesh shush

wola chee moasi lin yeh hesh

(Many) stars and stripes on (Mount) Suribachi

(snake Ute rabbit itch bear ant cat horse itch)

I am a Navajo Code Talker

On the killing sands of Iwo Jima, Navajo teams worked round the clock

Our Marines were pinned down on the beach by gunners trenched in rock

The strikes that turned the battle’s tide were signaled by the tribe

Whose mother tongue and spirit had survived.

Code Talkers,

communicating freely through the hot fire of tyranny

Code Talkers,

sending and receiving combat orders for our military

Kit Carson pillaged their homes in '64

For the nation who now called her men to war

Code Talkers

Code Talkers!

We are the Navajo Code Talkers

So long!

NOBLE HEART

Based on the traditional Blackfeet myth of Poia, who ventures to the Lodge of the Sun to win the love of a girl.

With the sunrise,

there’s a path that must be taken

To the One, who turns each and every day

With a heart, that beats in hope and wonder

As patient faith marks the way.

To follow the trail to the Lodge of the Sun

The perils are many

Till her love is won

There’re turbulent rivers

There’re cliffs on Divide

But there’s nowhere one can hide

When a Noble Heart decides.

We’ve been scarred by the storm

And the pain from past rejection

Pride survives, by running from new love

But the whisper inside, while soft, does not disappear

It calls to the starlight above.

To follow the trail to the Lodge of the Sun

The perils are many

Till true love is won

When out of the mountains

I’ll cross the plateau

As autumn swirls to snow

Is where a Noble Heart will go.

I see the Sun set again on my quest

I hear the owl sing my name

Though I feel the cold take it’s toll upon my flesh

Faith rises with dawn

To rekindle the flame.

So I can follow the trail to the Lodge of the Sun

The perils are many

Till her love is won

There’re turbulent rivers

There’re cliffs on Divide

But there’s nowhere one can hide

When a Noble Heart...

Follows the trail to the Lodge of the Sun

The trials are many

Till true love is won

I'll follow the river that runs to the sea

Till the surf rolls into view

It's what a Noble Heart will do...

SHADOW OF THE MOON

In the early days before the climb

We were spinning towards beginning time

This was long before the great ascent

Up the Big Divide where our hopes were sent

Back when I walked with you

Back when I talked with you

Back when I spun some thoughts with you

Together we went swirlin’ into swoon

With the Shadow of the Moon

Oh how you loved me round the clock till noon

With the Shadow of the Moon

Maybe someday you’ll return, I hope it’s soon.

With the Shadow of the Moon

Girl, the love we knew was straight and true

Makes it hard to leave and try to start anew

I range between feelin’ blue and sad

And I cry alone for at myself I’m mad

I want to walk with you

I want to talk with you

I have far too many thoughts of you

The Sun is out, but the rain won’t let it through

In the Shadow of the Moon

The strings that bridge the heart are out of tune

In the Shadow of the Moon

My heart’s open, hopin’ you will fill the room

With the Shadow of the Moon

With the starlight

from a constellation

We’ll reignite

the love that we’ve been wasting.

I want to walk with you

I want to talk with you

I want to spin some thoughts with you

Together we’ll go swirlin’ into swoon

In the Shadow of the Moon

I will love you round the clock till noon

In the Shadow of the moon

My heart’s open, hopin’ you will fill the room

With the Shadow of the Moon ...

In the Shadow of the Moon

By the Shadow of the Moon...

OLD GLAD

In 1848, my great, great grandfather, William Gladstone came into Blackfeet country with the Hudson’s Bay Company. In 1855, William took a Native wife and became a freelance carpenter and blacksmith working on Ft. Benton, Montana and Ft. Whoop Up and Ft. McLeod, Alberta. He settled in Pincher Creek, building the first sawmill in southern Alberta. He became known affectionately (I think) as Old Glad.

When William first came to this valley

There were stands of mountain spruce

The land laid smooth and whispered low

Through bears, wolves, elk and moose.

Then William could not leave this valley

For his life had lost the chill

That en-journeys one to leave the plains

And head out for the hills

And now what would make you wonder

What would roll you in your grave

If you heard the ends they have in plan?

On the land your name they gave

Old Glad, Old Glad

For the grizzlies and the watersheds

For the visions of our dads

Old Glad, Old Glad

For the last few stands of wilderness

And the promise you once had

He logged the trees in this valley

When timber pulled with gentle ease

With their strong horse teams

And men who steamed all day on bread and beans

But never once did they rape this valley

The green slopes they left undone

And where on behind the valley would wind

There still remained the young.

And now what would make you wonder

What would roll you in your grave

If you saw the ends they have in plan

On the land your name they gave

Old Glad, Old Glad

For the grizzlies and the watersheds

For the visions of our dads

Old Glad, Old Glad

For the last few stands of wilderness

And the promise you still have

Old Glad, Old Glad

For the grizzlies and the watersheds

For the visions of our dad

Old Glad, Old Glad

For the last few stands of wilderness

And the promise you still have

OLD MEADOW HIGHTREE

Dedicated to the child within and the vantage point of a tree.

Way off in a meadowland there stands a lonesome high tree

I’d climb and view the scenery as far as I could see

Caught by some ancestry, I didn’t realize then

I was just a wanderin’ lad out climbin’ the big tree.

Simple as my life was then as far as the horizon

My dreams would drift and lift like clouds into a clear blue sky

I don’t recall the who or when, but age does the disguising

Of well intended dreamers telling visions not to lie.

In the Old Meadow Hightree

I could feel nature’s soul

In the Old Meadow Hightree

I would watch the pastureland unfold

While my world revolved slowly

When I was only five years old.

I think it was that space between that time and higher learning

That I took the pen and pad to marks that don’t erase

But my frequent bad mistakes soon led me to a turning

To pencils with erasers, hell, I buy them by the case!

In the Old Meadow Hightree

I could see nature’s soul

In the Old Meadow Hightree

I could feel the winter’s breath turn cold

And my world evolved swiftly

When I became seventeen years old.

A woman came to know my heart

I had not known love before

Boyhood vanished in the part

Was beneath that meadow Hightree

That she set my soul free. But

She did not stay around

She said she had her place back in the town

I said I’ll never leave my Old Meadow Hightree

For you or any other love I’ve found

A dreamer’s heels never touch the ground.

Way off in a meadowland there stands a lonesome high tree

I climb and view the scenery as far as I can see

Caught by some ancestry or maybe I’m just crazy

I am just a wanderin’ man out climbin’ a big tree.

In the Old Meadow Hightree

I can feel nature’s soul

In the Old Meadow Hightree

I can watch a dreamer’s life unfold

While my words whisper softly

Past lips of a thirty-eight year old.

OLD SHEP

Between August 1936 and January 1942, an amazing vigil was kept by a canine for his best friend who had departed to the other world. This story illuminates friendship, patience and loyalty.

Not so long ago outside of Fort Benton

Was a tale born of a faithful friend

As the train pulled away from the station

With the body of an old shepherd man

Through his final years on these Montana plains

Over pasture and highland, through hard summer rains.

Old Shep, ran beside him

Tending the flocks, patrolling the range

Old Shep, slept beside him

Ever alert if the silence did change

A thousand sunrises were met

With Old Shep.

The fall came, the light grew dimmer

For the Shepherd man when he reached the town

And Old Shep could sense there would be a long journey

To a meadow space where peace is found.

Down in a bed in Fort Benton he lay

His spirit departed but his body stayed.

Old Shep, walked beside him

As they carried his casket up to the train

Old Shep, tried to climb on board

But they pushed him away to the station platform.

Here a separate trail was met

By Old Shep

How many nights, how many days

Would your partner wait for you?

How many seasons would you weather the storm

If your companion was long overdue?

For over six snows Old Shep waited

And through five springs, there was no return

He met each train that rolled into the station

His faith remained, his candle burned.

Then, on a cold, dark, winter day

Our hero rejoined his best friend.

Now, Old Shep is beside him

Tending the heavens, patrolling the range

Old Shep stays beside him

As the seasons revolve this Big Sky of change

A faithful friend we won’t forget

Old Shep, runs beside him

Tending the heavens, patrolling the range

Old Shep, sleeps beside him

As the seasons revolve this Big Sky of change

A friend we won’t forget

Old Shep

OW, THAT’S HOT

©1995 Jack W. Gladstone, and Vincent Scott, Glacier Pacific Publishing/BMI

Imagine a foolish bear, in a quest for a spotted coat, dancing and singing around a hot, crackling fire. The results were not what he expected.

Ow, That’s Hot!

I didn’t think it would hurt so much

For a white spot coat, those sparks come awful close

Ow, That’s Hot!

And oh how it does burn

For a white spot coat, then fire...

Maybe I should turn.

I will soon be looking sweet,

like the baby fawn

So I’ll just keep on dancing

until those spots are on.

Ow, That’s Hot!

I didn’t think it would hurt so much

For a white spot coat, those sparks come awful close

Ow, That’s Hot,

And oh, how it does burn

For a white spot coat, then fire...

Maybe I should turn.

I will soon be looking great,

like the spotted deer

If I don’t scorch my belly,

like I just scorched my rear.

Ow, That’s Hot!

I think I’ll change my mind

This white spot coat has turned to quite unkind

Ouch, that smarts!

And not even one spot

I dislike this shake ‘n bake, ‘cause

That fire’s hot!

PRAY FOR THE MOTHER

Dedicated to the feminine character and principle inherent in creation

Pray for the Mother

Sleep by her side

Dream with the others

She calls from inside

We are the elders

Our children will be

Heir to this earth home

We leave our legacy.

Can you feel the rainbow fading?

Can you hear the forest cry?

Can you sense the circle bleeding?

Can you sit and watch her die?

Pray for Our Mother

The Father’s within

Whole is our being

What was is again

Ask your soul, the heart can reach it

Lest you pass without a try

Every child will live the answer

Every child will wonder why

We can feel the rainbows fading

We can hear the woodlands cry

We can sense the circle bleeding

We awaken by her side.

Pray for Our Mother

Sleep by her side

Dream with the others

She calls from inside

Pray for the Mother

Pray for Our Mother...

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