It's Tragic, That's All

Intro

(Spoken)

Tokala hid our mother's death from me

She died right before we climbed the mountain

He sat in the longhouse wrapped her body in a pelt

And said nothing when I walked through the door

Verse 1

(Sipik)

You're kidding

He held the secret

Let me march away to fight the council

While our mother lay cold on Amik

Spoken

(Niska)

Claimed he did it so my hands would stay steady on the scree

Told me he did me the favor of taking the burden

So I could survive the peak

Well thank you very much brother

Ugh

Sipik

Tokala is a Beaver builder see

A Beaver looks at a cracked beam

And he shoves his own shoulder under the timber

Before the roof falls on the family

Chorus

(Spoken)

He took the blow himself

He took the blow himself

A terrible choice

An empty place where your goodbye should have been

Verse 2

(Niska)

A complicated way to dress a lie

I deserved the truth

I deserved the truth

Sipik

Truth is heavy timber

Sometimes people carry a lie because they think it works like a dam

They want to hold back the flood water

From the people they cherish

Chorus

(Spoken)

It makes a mess of things

It leaves people hurt and angry

But that doesn't mean the person who built the dam is a monster see

It just means they were terrified

Bridge

(Spoken)

It's tragic that's all

It's tragic that's all

Outro

(Sipik)

It's tragic

That's all