Cherokee Louise - Live 1995

This takes place in another bridge in Saskatoon
This time the Broadway bridge
And I have to go back to about
Five years after the cowboys fade
I had a best girlfriend, when I moved from the town
But that was taken in, from north battle vs. Saskatchewan to Saskatoon
Which is the closest thing we had to a big city up there
The Paris of the north, the city of bridges

And the Broadway bridge was a big concrete span bridge
And the boys did their youth rights there
You had to craw across it, on your belly
From one side to the other
And the river was wide, like the Mississippi
So it took some daring
Some places you'd be crawling through pidgin shit
And God knows what else

Total darkness fowl awkward smelling places
And never knowing when you could crawl on your knees again
You'd be slidering along and then oh, you could craw on your knees
And then ooh, in the middle you can stand up
I had a girlfriend who got misunderstood in the community
Basically because of her genetics
She was an Indian kid in a foster home, this is her story

Cherokee Louise is hiding in this tunnel
In the Broadway bridge
We're crawling on our knees
We've got chocolate and cheese
We've got cold cuts from the fridge

Last year, about this time
We used to climb up in the branches
Just to sway there in some breeze
Now the cops on the street
They want poor Cherokee Louise

People like to talk
Tongues are waggin' over fences
Waggin' over phones
All in all, their doors are locked
God, she can't come to our house
But I know where she'll go

To the place where you can stand
And press your hands like it was bubble bath
In dust piled high as me
Down, down deep the street
My friend poor Cherokee Louise

Ever since we turned 13
It's like a minefield walking to the door
Going out you get the third degree
And comin' in you get the third world war

Tuesday after school
We put our pennies on the rails
All in when the train roll by
We'd be jumpin' round like fools
Goin', "Look no heads or tails"
Goin', "Look my lucky prize"

She runs home to her foster dad
He opens up a zipper
And he yanks her to her knees
Oh, please be here, please
My friend poor Cherokee Louise

Cherokee Louise is hiding in this tunnel
In the Broadway bridge
We're crawling on our knees
We've got Archie and Silver Screen
We've got cold cuts from the fridge

Last year, about this time
We used to climb up in the branches
Just to sway there in some breeze
Now the cops on the street
They want poor Cherokee Louise

Cherokee Louise
Cherokee Louise
Cherokee Louise
Cherokee Louise