Cherokee Highway

Details

Description

Song originally by Western Flyer about racism in 1961 Mississippi from the forthcoming album "All Who Wander." It's an album written by a character from my forthcoming novel:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mearcstapa/all-who-wander-a-symphonic-novella/

LYRICS

Mississippi, in sixty-one, they watched his Daddy die,
Guided by the light of a burning cross, that lit the delta sky.
Kevin and Willy, ten years old, they were best of friends,
The only way you could tell 'em apart was the color of their skin.

"Come on Willy," Kevin screamed, "Let's get out of here!"
Willy's numb, can't even run, frozen there with fear,
So Kevin takes off through the woods,
Yelling "I'll be back for you"
Running fast out of breath, can't even rest,
His Daddy would know what to do.
Rushing through the door,
He sees the eyes of a man,
His Daddy's washing the blood out of a sheet,
But it won't come off his hands.


And the blood still runs down Cherokee Highway,
A senseless river filled with all they shared,
Just two dark sides to Cherokee Highway,
But black or white, the blood still runs red.

Now the fire, is at the fuse, in a town that just won't learn.
The word is out, make the white man pay, gonna watch his farmhouse burn.
Midnight, the flames begin, Kevin’s Daddy's the first to rise.
So he grabs his gun, and he grabs his wife,
But Kevin's still inside!
From the shadows comes,
A boy with darker skin,
Though they killed his Daddy he's gonna save his friend,
And he runs through the door, as the house falls in.

[Chorus]

Standing in the ashes,
He sees what hate really is,
Two little bodies both burnt black, can't tell which child is his!

[Chorus]