The Waters Came Down

(Song by: Tracy Spring  –  Performance Notes below)

LYRICS

I am an old woman, born on these shores
By the light of the Gathering Moon.
Swaddled in cedar bark, soft and fine,
Sung to sleep by the cry of the loon.
Our People were Blessed by the bounty they found
In these meadows, waters and trees.
For this we give Thanks in our stories and songs
For the wealth of this land and sea…

CHORUS 1
And the rain falls down, on this Sacred Ground,
Oh, the water comes down, down, down, down, down…

I was still a young girl when they came to our shore,
With trinkets, shovels and guns
Strange in custom and name, these Changers came,
And more, even more would come
With flumes, barges, tramways, roads,
Through forest for mine and mill
They blasted and dredged, straightened and hedged,
And smothered the clam beds with fill…

CHORUS 2
And the tears came down, on this Sacred Ground,
Oh, the waters came down, down, down, down, down…

On a warm summer day, we watched from the shore
As the salmon came home from the Bay.
Our feet felt the sound of the trembling ground
And the lake sank slowly away.
The water went down, the river ran dry,
Our canoes and the fish left on shore.
We mourned and we cried as they struggled and died,
And the river was no more…

CHORUS 3
And the water came down, on this Sacred Ground,
Oh, the waters came down, down, down, down, down…

Bridge:
All things come, all things go, the moon will rise, the wind will blow.
Stars will shine, rivers will flow,
while the rain falls down, down, down, down…

The stories of places, the echoes of drums
Will keep us from fading away.
The raising of voices in our own native tongue
May keep the changes at bay.
I am an old woman, born on these shores,
My end time soon at hand.
But those who have gone, their Spirits watch on…
Over all who will love this Land!

CHORUS 4
And the rain falls down, on this Sacred Ground,
Oh the waters come down, down, down, down, down…

• Words and music by Tracy Spring
• Performed by:
  • Tracy Spring (lead & harmony vocals, guitar)
  • Peter Ali (Native American flute)
  • Brian Anderson, Ashley Benem, Leslie Conton, David Donohue, Dean Evenson, Dudley Evenson, Bill Sterling (Drums & Chants)
• Recorded at Wild Horse Field Recordings and at Soundings of the Planet
  

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