MONTANA IN TIME
© Greg Keeler 1989

Talkin' Crazy Horse Blues

My life never followed much of a plan.
My dad was an Oglala holy man,
And his name was Crazy Horse, just like mine.
But they called me Curly there at first,
Though, when a wild pony ran by during my birth,
And later on people took that as sort of a sign.
I wore a hawk feather in my hair
And looked through people like they weren't there
'Cause for me, I guess you just might say they weren't.
I never did like to sing or talk
And spent a lot of time by myself takin' walks
And lookin' at the ashes after the fire was burnt.

Chorus:
Crazy Horse, no human ever made me change my course.
You can call me Sad or Mad or Lazy Horse,
But it all comes down to Crazy Horse.
Life's such a crazy deal,
'Specially when those things in your bad dreams turn real,
But when you die, no matter how you feel,
You're bound to make the grass grow green.

When your people started doin' my people in,
I sort of got this feelin' we might not win,
So I starved myself lookin' for visions three days and three nights.
To stay awake, I lay down on stones,
And stuck pebbles 'tween my toes till they bruised my bones,
And this here's what I finally saw in the morning light.
A pony was approaching with a warrior riding there.
He had a pebble in his ear and waist-length hair.
He had hail stones on his body and lightning down the side of his face.
And when that vision was over and done,
I figured that probably I was the one
The spirits had chosen to take that warriors place.

Chorus:

Well, bullets never had much effect on me.
I rode through my enemies like I rode through trees,
And most the time, I hardly ever even got a scratch.
Yes, with hail on my body and lightning on my face,
I could go into battle most any place,
And, at least in a fair fight, I never did meet my match.
But then my disciples turned on me,
Sort of like that fella from Galilee,
But instead of Judas, Little Big Man took part in my betrayal.
So when I thought I was safe and on a peaceful track,
A soldier stuck a bayonet in my back--
Not quite as dramatic, but effective as a cross and nails.

Chorus (at the end, repeat the first three lines of the chorus)