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Drum Song (7') 2000
voice, violin, cello, piano
Sample Audio - (opens in new window)
Leslie Dala, Piano
Rosalind Dala, Voice
Drum Song
by Jim Green
bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum
bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum
bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum
bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum
The drums the drums the beat of the drums
the beat of the drums the beat of the heart
the beat of the heart the throb of the land
the throb of the land the throb of life
the throb of life in the beat of the drums
the power the power the beat of the drums
the drums the heart the land the life
the power in the heart of the drums of life
the drums the drums the beat of the drums
I'm sitting on dried grass facing the water
bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum
the sun is sinking behind the black islands
bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum
a raven stiff wings by to its nightly roost
bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum
an end of the day loon call rings clear
bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum
Woman soft step the log dock with tin pails
bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum
bend to crack the skim ice with their heels
bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum
scoop up cold water for empty tea kettles
bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum
and a kid runs by pushing a small red wagon
bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum
a load of water in a green plastic barrel
bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum
Behind me the throb the beat of the drums
the beat of the drums the throb of life
the throb of the drums the beat of death
the beat of death
bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum
bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum
bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum
bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum
The old lady knew she was going to die
had them fly her back to the settlement
beside the clear lake where she was born
Word was sent out to the other villages
people arrived by boat plane and canoe
They came shook her hand said farewell
to the tired grey lady of ninety years
grandmother to half the town
come home to die
She smiled to see her friends once more
listen to the waves slap the sand shore
the sharp fall wind in the swaying pine
She died Wednesday
everyone gathered at the small log house
clasping her still hand a final touch
drinking tea and quietly playing checkers
Planes came Thursday and more the next day
The burial by the lake was Friday
with preperations for the feast underway
they burned her clothes on the beach
a blaze of dry willows on the sand
Hung her thin mocassins in a tall pine
sung hymns in the wind-blown cemetery
cooking pots bubbling in every house
In the evening the people came together
the visitors relatives and the kids
carrying pots buckets and tea kettles
The young men served for the feast
kept serving till there was no more
plates piled high with fresh roast caribou
steaming white fish trout warm bannock
apples oranges jam butter lard
a bowl of blood soup canned peaches
and gallon after gallon of tea
Almost an hour to share all the food
enough to last everyone there for days
Then came the speeches
old men remembering yesterday
talking about today about death
about the land about life about tomorrow
After the feast the drums the dancing
together round and round the log hall
the swaying circles pulsing to the drums
through the night into the morning
That was yesterday today
the drums are going strong again
as I sit near the still lake shore
only there is a difference today
The drums speak another language
as the skins are heated for the hand game
a hand game a game of power
a game of power a game of life
a gambling game a game of money
a game of skill a game of power
a game of the drum a game of life
Getting up from the brittle grass
I walk down to the drum house
where the teams have been picked
the drum skins warmed up
and the chants are rising
the game has begun
I step into the drum thunder
It is a new beat a sound of the heart
the beat of the heart the sound of life
the throb of life in the beat of the drums
the power in the heart of the drums of life
the drums the drums the beat of the drums
the beat of life
kaBUM kaBUM kaBUM kaBUM kaBUM kaBUM kaBUM
kaBUM kaBUM kaBUM kaBUM kaBUM kaBUM kaBUM
kaBUM kaBUM kaBUM kaBUM kaBUM kaBUM kaBUM
kaBUM kaBUM kaBUM kaBUM kaBUM kaBUM kaBUM