Lyrics

Song of the Open Plains

[Intro]
[soft drum pulse
Distant flute]
(hey-ya, hey-ya, hey-ya)
(ho)

[Verse 1]
Grandmother’s hands in the morning light
Braiding my hair by the glowing coals
Smoke drawing stories in the pale blue sky
Names of the bison on her tongue

Hooves like thunder in the far
Far grass
Eagle circling the waking sun
Children racing with the rising wind
Laugh in the shadow of the lodge

[Chorus]
This is our land
Wide as my heartbeat
Sky like a blanket over every dream
Listen
My soul
To the drums beneath my feet
Life on the plains
Running in our veins

(hey-ya, hey-ya)
Life on the plains
Running in our veins

[Verse 2]
Father returns with the dusty herd
Paint on his face
Cedar on his clothes
He lifts me high to the watching hawk
Says
“Little one
Learn how the river flows”

We follow the tracks where the grasses lean
We drink where the water kisses stone
Fireflies stitch the dark with light
Campfire embers feel like home

[Chorus]
This is our land
Wide as my heartbeat
Sky like a blanket over every dream
Listen
My soul
To the drums beneath my feet
Life on the plains
Running in our veins

(hey-ya, hey-ya)
Life on the plains
Running in our veins

[Bridge]
[drums drop to low pulse
Flute solo answers chant]
(ohh-hey-ya, hey-ya, hey-ya)
Voices of ancestors ride in the rain
(ho-hey, ho-hey)
Teaching my spirit to stand
To remain

Buffalo falling
Grass still grows
Children will follow the trail we chose
As long as we sing
As long as we dance
Our story is carried on the wind

[Chorus]
This is our land
Wide as my heartbeat
Sky like a blanket over every dream
Listen
My soul
To the drums beneath my feet
Life on the plains
Running in our veins

(hey-ya, hey-ya, hey-ya)
Life on the plains
Running in our veins
(ho-hey, ho-hey)
Life on the plains
Running in our veins

[Outro]
[percussion swells
Then thins to flute and soft chant]
(hey-ya, hey-ya)
Grass and sky
Horse and flame

(hey-ya, hey-ya)
We remain
We remain