This is not the type of song I typically write, which is based on actual historical events. It is my tribute to the Cherokee Indians who endured the infamous Trail of Tears, the removal of indigenous people from the hills of North Georgia and Tennessee to the newly established Indian Territory (later to become the State of Oklahoma) between 1838 and 1839. Historians estimate that approximately 4,000 Cherokee people died on this trail, which represented about one-fourth of the total number who traveled west during the forced migration by the United States government.

I wanted this song to honor the Cherokee Nation, so I specifically incorporated phrases from first-hand accounts of survivors, including Wahnenauhi (English name – Lucy Lowery Hoyt Keys), Jane Bushyhead, and Rebecca Neugin. I also found inspiration from the poem, “The Trail of Tears,” by Cherokee poet Ruth Margaret Muskrat Bronson (1897-1982).

Full disclosure: I claim no Cherokee or any North American indigenous heritage. To my knowledge, I do not have Native American or American Indian blood running through my veins. This original song is not an attempt to “put myself in the shoes” of those who suffered. I am not the narrator in this song. The imagined speaker is an amalgamation of many different male voices who experienced the horror and loss inflicted by the Trail of Tears.

For more information about the Trail of Tears, please visit the Cherokee Nation’s website at https://www.cherokee.org/about-the-nation/remember-the-removal/our-journey/ .

“On This Trail”

Far away from the Blue Hole Spring where we face the setting sun
Long nights and endless days, mothers weeping for their young

Forsaken graves of the ones we loved on desecrated soil
The cruel hand of the oppressors held empty promises they sold

On this trail, blazed by death and fear
On this trail, filled with tears

Beyond Kituwah and the blue smoke hills, to where the mighty rivers flow
Across Missouri down to Arkansas, through wilderness unknown

My wife and all our children gone, the earth is where they sleep
I have no land and I’ve lost my home, the sorrow runs so deep

On this trail, blazed by death and fear
On this trail, filled with tears

Shattered dreams and broken hearts for the sake of gold and greed
Proud nation of our mother’s land just yearning to be free

On this trail, blazed by death and fear
On this trail, filled with tears

On this trail, blazed by death and fear
On this trail, filled with tears

(Note: I plan to post a recording of this song once the final cut is complete.)