COMANCHE (Spirit Dancer)
 

(the story of the horse Comanche, as told by Ten Bears)

(sung by Michael A. Guy)  6/1/99 and 6/3 from vs.#1-4

(Chorus I)

He rode over the ridge that night,

Moonlight shining in the bend of the river.

AND the Winds of Change will blow,

but you know that horse will know...

            We are our dreams.

And the winds of change blew,

but you knew that horse knew...

            We are our dreams.

1.

He was born on the prairie,

where the wind blew free, and

there was nothing to break–

the light of the sun.

2.

Ten Bears was a Cheyenne,

born in ‘da-tsa-lu-nee’ (green corn month)

Way out on the prairie,

where everything could still breathe free.

He wanted to die out there,

And not within four walls.

                        (yea, not within those walls)

Now they’ve gone and paved his green grave

And built yet another shopping mall.

Chorus I:

            He rode over the ridge that night...

            Moonlight shining in the bend of the river.

And the winds of change will blow....

But you know that horse will know,

We are Our Dreams.

3.

Today I’m fishing for trout out there - plenty of fresh air,

            and feeding my spirit reborn.

And I remembered the story I read somewhere,

A true story told (well) by Ten Bears.

(He was born upon the prairie, where the wind blew free.)

“In the last hot days of June 1876

            Just before ‘tsa-lu-wa-nee’ (corn in tassel)

They had a big battle by the Little Bighorn.”

4. (Ten Bears):

Legend has it, only one survived Custer’s Last Stand.

(We know it sure wasn’t Custer).  I got the story first hand:

            ‘The horse’s name was Comanche and he died in 1891,

            In the month, nu-da-na-ewa’.

He was a clay-back Sorrel, buckskin Bay,

Black mane and tail, part of the Seventh Cavalry.

Born on the high plain, where the wind blew free.

*/*       Chorus I

5.

Seven Scars for Seven Wounds from Seven Battles lost or won

And he recovered from every one.

He was Major Keogh’s horse, a big (gallant) Irishman

He fought hard, died brave, surrounded by (four) dead Indian ponies.

So the warriors did not touch his body that day-

Where Comanche, 3 days beside him lay.

Fallen with 7 holes from 7 bullets and arrows.

The Army came to bury their dead -

That horse quivered to life, and shook his (noble) head.

A corporal found him bleeding in a clump of trees (and)

Was ordered to shoot him—when he heard the horse’s (pathetic) whinnies,

            had not the heart to carry it through.

The blacksmith Korn (later became his attendant),

Dissuaded a trooper about to cut the poor animal’s throat—

And led him from the battlefield, bloody and torn

And a newfound bond (forged in war) was formed

They pulled out an arrow that passed right through his flank,

It should have ended his life, (but, one innocent spared)

He screamed like a “Comanche”– it cut like a knife.

Like a miracle - healed, living 15 more seasons—a ripe full life.

[optional ending to verse:]

At Fort Riley (in Kansas), Comanche had all the privileges

of a seasoned General, and for good reasons.

He’d march at the head of the battalion troops,

            [to the tune, “Garry Owen”]

draped in honorary battle cloth.

And when he died [in 1891], a man was appointed to stuff his hide, [it will make him last forever, he said].

Today he stands in a college in Kansas,

A glass case protects him eternal, from the ravages

 of Time & Weather.

[Option: repeat chorus]

6.  PART II (optional, added 2005)

I went up to Montana, fished a little stream

 not far from the border.

Tears in my eyes when I thought of my Mother,

And the life she gave me in that little house by the sea

 (so far away) (so long ago).

And the small brooks of my youth—Brookies no bigger than your long finger—

            I thought of Chief Joseph, over 100 years ago today,

            (freezing in the first snowy weather)

And when he was tired, he turned to say:

‘My heart is sick and sad,

From where the sun now stands-

            I will fight no more forever.’

7. (Be sure to modulate back to E minor: a dark and soaring climax into two final choruses)

—He rode over the ridge that night—

A full moon shining, at the bend in the Little Bighorn River.

I was down in the ravine tossing big white dries into

            the moon-scattered glitter.

Chorus II: (all caps means to accent and attenuate each word when singing)

AND THE // Winds of change blew -

                        but you knew that horse knew...

            WE ARE OUR DREAMS...

He rode over the ridge that night

Moonlight shining in the bend of the river,

AND THE // winds of change will blow,

but you know that horse will know...

WE ARE OUR DREAMS...

[You  know THAT HORSE knows,]

WE ARE OUR DREAMS...yeah…

We are Our Dreams...  (Repeat, fade or end.)

slightly revised on 3/15/2005

c. 1999/2007 Michael A. Guy, all rights reserved