loan me a minute, let me borrow your ear
I’ll sing you a song about Leonard Peltier
gone so long in a federal jail
the innocent victim of a tangled tale
in South Dakota where the fear was thrown
the presidents watched from a mountain of stone
they said all people are free to roam
there was a struggle for freedom in the Indian home
(chorus)
how many have gone before
tell me how many more
must be lost to the Indian wars
the company spoke to the high command
“we need the deeds to the Indian land
to dig for oil and uranium ore
maybe have to start a little Indian war”
the orders came from way on high
it was a job for the FBI
“it won’t be hard, all we’ll have to do
is cause a little trouble and follow it through”
===
in Oglalla where the spirit did dwell
it was a time they remember well
were women and children gathered there
when the wind blew a warning through the whispering air
and Leonard Peltier was one of those
who came to the call when the time arose
and dangerous strangers were prowlin’ around
bringin’ trouble to the reservation ground
and that was when the agents made their play
in a gunshot battle on a deadly day
and three men died in Lakota land
two FBI and an Indian man
(chorus)
Joe Stuntz was a man that died that day
but the eyes of the law didn’t see it that way
all they cared about was their own kind
gonna get somebody for a capitol crime
the charge was set for homicide,
but Leonard got away to the Canada side
where he lived for a while in the northern town
till they came up and got him and they brought him back down
===
the judge and the jury, they both agreed
two times murder in the first degree
they pounded the gavel and they rang on the bell
two times life in a federal cell
citations came from Washington,
congratulations on a job well done.
they wiped their hands on the American flag
injustice done, it was in the bag
they took Leonard Peltier off away in chains
all of those years to suffer in pain
all of those years a long time gone
and the struggle of the people goes on
(chorus)
and so it’s been since days of old
when Custer died for a mountain of gold
but times have changed and passed him by
he’s been replaced with the FBI
oh, it’s all so easy to weep and moan
for a warfare fought so far from home
you can preach of peace from a righteous stand
while they struggle for peace on the Indian land
===
when Joe Stuntz was lowered down
the winds did blow with a mighty sound
the answer came in the driving rain
this one will not have died in vain
for the hollow power of the lock and key
ain’t nothin’ to the power of the raging sea
or the lightning strikes in the angry skies
that puts the power into people’s eyes
===
one day in he winter when the sun broke through
and it was the right think to do
Joe Biden sat at the window piece
and signed the papers to release
the people laughed and the people cried
the door slid open Leonard stepped outside
the signs on the road said Welcome Home
to Turtle Mountain — been a long time gone
(chorus)