From the recording Go Down to the Low Down

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with Laurie and Karissa Swanson on vocals, Karissa Swanson on piano

Lyrics

Your grandmother was a tree,
lost two good men and still stood tall,
Your mother was a stone,
as stubborn as the day is long.
And I was born in South Dakota.
I remember the parsonage by the tracks.
The snow, and the wind, and the bugs
made you want to leave and not come back.

But to find where I’m goin’ I must journey where I’ve been.
I’m finding old strength mustered in the trials of my kin.
I can hold ground in the storm! hold the earth in the wind!
Its in our blood, dear mother, before and now again.

But the plains still call me to the open,
where the women of our family lived and bore.
And I want to find a fearless piece of land,
though you may have dreamed I’d find something more.
Your daughters are full of mighty water.
It will save us in the desert of our pain.
Mother, you’ve done well in your keeping,
and your babies have grown to do the same.

And to find where we’re goin’ we must journey where we’ve been.
We’re finding old strength mustered in the trials of our kin.
We can hold ground in the storm! hold the earth in the wind!
Its in our blood, dear mother, before and now again.