"Back Elk is sick and may be dying,"
Said the old man to his wife
"Even now the Holy Man is. singing
Mat Wakan-Tanka spare his life."
Black Elk was trance-like in a death sleep
Dreaming of two men with flaming spears
Left him alone and disappeared
Then a bay horse stood before him
Said, "Now my life history you shall see
See how all the horses come dancing
Come dancing, dancing, dancing, dancing, wild and free
Dancing, dancing, dancing, wild and free."
Twelve black horses with manes of lightning in the night
Twelve white horses with white geese circling, thundering past
Twelve sorrel horses with eyes like stars and manes of light
Twelve buckskins with horns on their heads and manes of grass
Then the horses formed a line of four abreast
Bay horse turned his head West and he neighed
Sky was like a storm of thundering houses
And Little Black Elk was afraid
And then the horses changed into all creatures
Into every from of life that there could be
See how all the horses come dancing
Come dancing, dancing, dancing, dancing, wild and free
Dancing, dancing, dancing, wild and free
Said the old man to his wife
"Even now the Holy Man is. singing
Mat Wakan-Tanka spare his life."
Black Elk was trance-like in a death sleep
Dreaming of two men with flaming spears
Left him alone and disappeared
Then a bay horse stood before him
Said, "Now my life history you shall see
See how all the horses come dancing
Come dancing, dancing, dancing, dancing, wild and free
Dancing, dancing, dancing, wild and free."
Twelve black horses with manes of lightning in the night
Twelve white horses with white geese circling, thundering past
Twelve sorrel horses with eyes like stars and manes of light
Twelve buckskins with horns on their heads and manes of grass
Then the horses formed a line of four abreast
Bay horse turned his head West and he neighed
Sky was like a storm of thundering houses
And Little Black Elk was afraid
And then the horses changed into all creatures
Into every from of life that there could be
See how all the horses come dancing
Come dancing, dancing, dancing, dancing, wild and free
Dancing, dancing, dancing, wild and free
more tracks from the album
From the albums
- Flowing Free Forever (1976)
- The Horse Legends (1997)
Michael Martin Murphey popular songs
- Maybe This Time
- Wildfire
- Red River Valley
- What’s Forever For
- Renegade
- Little Joe, the Wrangler
- When the Work’s All Done This Fall
- Riders in the Sky
- What Am I Doing Here
- From the Word Go
- Ring of Truth
- Children of the Wild World
- Roses and Thorns
- Let the Cowboy Dance
- Geronimo’s Cadillac
- Tying Knots in the Devil’s Tail
- Harbor For My Soul
- Running Shadow
- Cowboy Logic
- Hearts in the Right Place
- Calico Silver
- The Heart Knows the Truth
- Wild Bird
- Spanish is the Lovin’ Tongue