This is the first song I heard from the album in an interview with Robbie Robertson back in 99, I think.
I live in Indian Country and have for decades, many of my friends and neighbors have been and are Indians and have attended many ceremonies after being invited by elders, I have some background knowledge.
In the interview Robertson talks about this song. He was in Canada touring reservations and researching histories and stories about Indian life when he came upon the recording of the woman singing this song. I can't recall all the details as it was 20 years ago but what I recall was something about this woman's family had been murdered and this was part of her lament. He got permission to use the recording to incorporate into a song for the album. He said he carried the cassette of this recording around with him for quite some time because the story hung on him for some time. I think he went to the home of the murdered people and may have spoken to the woman whose voice is in this recording.
I like other songs on this album though I haven't heard the whole thing. But the songs are haunting, as they should be given what took place and is still taking place on this continent with regard to the indigenous peoples who were here for tens of thousands of years before Europeans showed up and effectively carried out an ethnic cleansing of horrific proportion.
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Robbie Robertson (Original post)
democrank (8,687 posts) 
