The sun beats down on a cactus
Rooted by the sand to the floor
Of the most barren part of the desert
Good for bleaching bones but no more
Reservation land keeps getting smaller
Treaties never do protect its rights
But a young Apache man with a proud spirit burning
Still dreams and plans for the fight
On full moon nights, he goes dancing
But not in some cowboy's honky tonk
The ghost dance gives his mind a vision
That gives this life the meaning that he wants
The thundering hooves of the white buffalo
Places of his warriors streaked with paint
The ghost dance gives his mind a vision
He knows that he will win, but he must wait
His friends all laugh and call him loco
For trying to live his life in the old way
But when they get drunk and start complaining
He gets up and slowly moves away
Then he gathers the children all around him
And soon there's a sparkle in their eyes
As he tells them all about the great ones
And the spirit that protects them in the sky
On full moon nights, he goes dancing
But not in some cowboy's honky tonk
The ghost dance gives his mind a vision
That gives this life the meaning that he wants
The thundering hooves of the white buffalo
Places of his warriors streaked with paint
The ghost dance gives his mind a vision
He knows that he will win, but he must wait
