The day the pipeline came, the river moaned
Its current was still and numb when not long ago it flowed
And it bent and it gave
It would never take
Because it’s not like the water to kill our fate
But it sure is like them to try to stake their claim
On a land they couldn’t name if it was yelled in their face
They mistook our divinity for fragility
Our humility for illiteracy
But — we — can — read — between — the — lines — before — you — even — draw — them
We all knew and tried to raise our voices
To the ones behind desks making choices
For the people they forget are people
The people they forget they slayed
The people who are the real heirs to these plains
But that’s just the American way
The co$t is always ours in the end
And the currency we are forced to hand over sure as hell ain’t green
It’s red
The price tag for greed is a life sacrificed as debt
That they used to take a loan out for
Funny how our greatest asset is being collateral
But before that first comes resistance
And after that arrives persistence
They think because we pray we aren’t resilient
But there’s more than one way to be militant
Soldiers marched miles in the snow to stand shoulder to shoulder
Across from the ones whose rubber bullets made them feel bolder
But we showed them we won’t just roll over
We won’t surrender our rights
If you want them, we won’t let them go without a fight
Because we didn’t ask for this
You simply just did
But that’s just the American way
You dig and drill to warm your homes
When your hearts are what run cold
You need your padded life and don’t care whose damn life gets in the way
Because that’s just how it goes
You reap and we all sow
But there’s nothing left here for us to grow but old
And grow old we will
But growing tired is never part of the deal
If we have to go down swinging, that will be better still
And the oil that spills will be nothing
Compared to the blood on the hands of those who stood and watched
And said nothing
The hands of those who beat their batons on the backs of those
Who you owe for the land you stole
- The first time centuries ago -
And the hands of those who could have stopped this all with a simple pen stroke
But that’s just the American way
They pay no mind while we all pay