The Nights

Her skin was the color
Of the mountains' first winter snow
His skin was the color
Of the hot sun summer glow
And they met by a river called Okemah
In an August of another time
She fell in love with this red man
And left her people behind
And she learned these things

The ways of a red man are lonely
And his woman can expect little more
And a day filled with hard work and sorrow
And so she lived for
The nights, the nights

And they followed his tribe
On a hard trail to the Dakotas far away
And they hunted a big buffalo
And they heard the old chief say
The white man has walked here before us
And killed buffalo for their hides
And so this winter our women and children
Will feel much hunger inside
And she learned these things

The ways of a red man are lonely
And his woman can expect little more
Than a day filled with hard work and sorrow
And so she learns to live for
The nights, the nights

That winter they died by the hundreds
The people of this red man's tribe
She walked the cold ground
And cursed the white man
Who killed buffalo for their hides
And they buried their mothers and fathers
And their children they loved so
They prayed the son God will come soon
And melt the Dakota snow

The ways of a red man are lonely
And his woman can expect little more
Than a day filled with hard work and sorrow
And so she learns to live for
The nights, the nights

And the spring came early to the Dakotas that year
And the buffalo numbered ten times ten
They filled their stomachs
Made their clothes and started their lives again
And she bore her lover boy child
Fulfilled the promise of spring
And from old comes new
And new is life and life is an eternal thing
And she learned these things

The ways of a red man are lonely
And his woman can expect little more
Than a day with hard work and sorrow
And so she learns to live for
The nights, the nights