Pale Sun

Fifty miles from Dakota territory

Cheyenne scalp hangs from his belt

Found him alone washing in the Big Horn

Steady aim and he bagged his game

Pale sun falls without contest

Here is obedient darkness

He will not return

White Cadillac, white man at the wheel

White faces on the mountain

Wounds that will never heal

Black clouds overhead, old man says looks like rain

Thieves' Road winds to the Black Hills sign

Says, South Dakota, USA

Grass plains stretch to the horizon

Not a soul can be found on them

They will not return

Old rusted pickup and a mad dog in the yard

Purple paint peels but fails to reveal

The bitterness that grows inside

Cloud of dust in the distance

Strange knock beneath my hood

Is it better to have words left unsaid

Than to have words misunderstood

Pale sun falls without contest

Here is obedient darkness

It will return

I know it will return

It will return