From the recording The Blood Of Crazy Horse
*The song begins with a brief cry from a Lakota Indian. In Lakota, the phrase "It is a good day to die" is translated as "Hoka hey" (pronounced "ho-kah hay"). This is often used as a war cry to state a person's readiness to fight and potentially die for one's cause. Please note: this phrase is not meant to be interpreted as a suicidal statement in its cultural context.
This is an instrumental*. I wrote lyrics, but I could never match the solemness of the underlying meaning with my vocals. Maybe the song's spiritual voice is best left spoken in the heart.
Lyrics
The Blood Of Crazyhorse JRRothrock 9/1/2023
The Civil War was over… a smoky stench hung in the air…
When brothers cut down brothers… despair is everywhere
From wreckage… wagons rolling … to seek a new sunrise.
…from under clouds of sorrow… to open, bluer skies.
Where were no walls or ceilings… heavy hands bang at the door…
…what’s perceived as God’s intention… is the devil’s curse for more
With pride and freedom stolen… we now hear the warpath cries
If men can’t live together… one lives… one surely dies
Tribes herded into corners… anger boils, tensions soar
A backlash knows no limits … vengeance escalates to war
Thunderheads exploding… tremors rolling on the plains
2000 braves in ambush… spirits rage in desperate pain
Sparks erupt in conflagration... hell on earth is formed
…for three tumultuous hours… a raging people swarmed
Guns, tomahawks, and arrows… in the wake of thunder’s roar
Not a single heart left beating… the 7th Cavalry was no more.
A day is not forever… and many battles win a war.
A spark burning in the thicket… the forest burns, there is no more
In the end, there was no winner. The dispossessed, in echoes, cry…
“If I can’t live a free tomorrow… a good day for me to die.”