Aaron Smith & the Coal Biters - Henri Martain

Daddy came over on the boat from France
Port St. Augustine
He hit out north by northwest
Blue Ridge Mountains
Cherokee

He met an Indian girl
She was the sister of a chief
He went looking for a brand new life that’s what he found
Blue Ridge Mountains
Cherokee

Daddy didn’t know
Where the road would lead
Was hoping something better than he left behind
There ain’t no telling what kind of good tomorrow might bring
Seems we’re all just walking blind
Seven summers pass
The house started filling up
Three brand new mouths to feed
Henri Martain got hisself a farm and a family
Blue Ridge Mountains
Cherokee

Little did we know where the road would lead
Everything we’d have to leave behind
There ain’t no telling what kind of wickedness the next day brings
I never believed that man could be so unkind
Seems we’re all just walking blind

Daddy was a white man, so they would have let him stay
They’d let him keep his house and keep his farm
But they wouldn’t let him keep his Cherokee bride
Half-breed daughters and son by his side
No, they’d have to leave
With the Blue Ridge Mountain Cherokee

It was twenty three years he spent building up this place
And daddy ain’t a young man anymore
Is there anywhere left in the whole wide world that’s safe?
Where you can build a life and they won’t take it all away?
They just come along and take it all away
Daddy didn’t know where the road would lead
Hoping something better than he left behind
There ain’t no telling what kind of good tomorrow might bring
Seems we’re all just walking blind
Mama, she’s walking and crying
Seems we’re all just walking blind