Redbird and Blackbird

Redbird lighted on a limb to sing a soulful song
Pretty as a choir hymn when blackbird came along
Blackbird he was forlorn, life had gotten hard
The dogs were running through the corn and the cats were in the yard

So redbird said let’s sign a tune and use a minor key
We’ll keep it heavy as the dew and we’ll add despondency
Blackbird hadn’t sung in years, his voice was all but gone
But redbird’s notion hit his ear and he said he’d sing along

Oooh…

So redbird filled the canopy with bluer days gone by
With ancient groves of chestnut trees and hemlocks to the sky
Then blackbird sang an elegy to Tsali and his sons
And every other Cherokee who had faced the white man’s gun

Oooh…

They brought back all the beauty from centuries ago
Stuffed their beaks with chestnut seeds that had fallen in the snow
When they finished singing, they let the sound ring on
Then blackbird started grinning and he flew off toward the dawn