Where is the Voice Coming From ?

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ALMIGHTY VOICE

By Brian Howard Seibert

© Copyright by Brian Howard Seibert

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ALMIGHTY VOICE

© Words & Music by Brian Howard Seibert

I wrote this song in 1995 as thanks to my Creative Writing professor Rudy Wiebe and his short story ‘Where is the Voice Coming From?’

“Almighty Voice (1874-97), a Cree Native, was arrested in 1895

for slaughtering a cow on a reserve near Duck Lake, N.W.T.

He escaped, shot and killed a North West Mounted Police officer

who was pursuing him, and became a hero to the Cree before

he was finally killed by the police.”                                              .

                                             Rudy Wiebe, author of ‘Where is the Voice Coming From ?’

Tuning and Chords: Standard for Lyres, Lutes, Guitars and Harps

Key: Em, Strumming Pattern: Moderate Rock, Plucking Pattern: Medium

Am

Almighty Voice was an open plains Cree,

G         F

Jean Baptiste they called him.

Am

Almighty Voice just wanted to be,

G         F

Free…so they caught him!

Am

One lonely cow on the reservation,

G         F

One head of cattle he slaughtered.

Am

Almighty Voice just wanted to eat…

G         F

Free…but they caught him!

Am

Almighty Voice, Almighty Voice, Almighty Voice, Almighty…

E                     Am

Free…but they sought him!

Am

Almighty Voice, Almighty Voice, Almighty Voice, Almighty…

E                     Am

Free…but they caught him!

Am

Sergeant Colbrook of the RCMP,

G         F

drew a warrant and sought him.

Am

The North West Mounties always get their man,

G         F

Wayo…they got him!

Am

In a chinked log lock up in Saskatchewan,

G         F

Paced Almighty Voice, Spotted Calf’s son.

Am

“You’ll get three weeks on the woodpile,” some officers cried.

G         F

But others, “…Wayo…you’re gonna die!”

Am

Almighty Voice, Almighty Voice, Almighty Voice, Almighty…

E                     Am

Free…but they sought him!

Am

Almighty Voice, Almighty Voice, Almighty Voice, Almighty…

E                     Am

Free…but they caught him!

Am

Some said he’d work, some said he’d hang,

G         F

Almighty Voice knew naught would happen.

Am

While being fed, he got himself a gun,

G         F

But Sargeant Colbrook tried to trap him.

Am

Almighty Voice said, “Don’t take another step!”

G         F

Three times he warned him, then got him.

Am

That North West Mountie died in Indigenous arms,

G         F

Wayo  …  had shot him!

Am

Almighty Voice, Almighty Voice, Almighty Voice, Almighty…

E                     Am

Free…but they sought him!

Am

Almighty Voice, Almighty Voice, Almighty Voice, Almighty…

E                     Am

Free…but they caught him!

Am

Gitchee Manitou Wayo…Yeah, Yeah!

E                     Am

Gitchee Manitou Wayo…Naw, Naw!

Am

Gitchee Manitou Wayo…Yeah, Yeah,

E                     Am

Gitchee Manitou Wayo…Wayo!

Am

Almighty Voice was an open plains Cree,

G         F

A renegade they called him.

Am

Two years wages upon his head,

G         F

Wayo…they caught him!

Am

The Minnechinass Hills of Saskatchewan,

G         F

On a poplar bluff in the hot prairie sun,

Am

The grass it whispers, the trees they cry,

G         F

“Wayo…you’re gonna die!”

Am

Almighty Voice, Almighty Voice, Almighty Voice, Almighty…

E                     Am

Free…but they caught him!

Am

Almighty Voice, Almighty Voice, Almighty Voice, Almighty…

E                     Am

Free…but they fought him!

Am

Almighty Voice, wasn’t alone on that bluff,

G         F

With two others he sheltered.

Am

His brothers Dublin and Going-Up-To-Sky,

G         F

Dug a pit and they sweltered.

Am

Two charges by the RCMP,

G         F

Killed Corporals Kerr and Hockin.

Am

Ernest Grundy died right at the pit,

G         F

When native bullets did the talking!

Am

Almighty Voice, Almighty Voice, Almighty Voice, Almighty…

E                     Am

Free…but they caught him!

Am

Almighty Voice, Almighty Voice, Almighty Voice, Almighty…

E                     Am

Free…but they fought him!

Am

Almighty Voice kept a hundred men,

G         F

Three days in siege and sunder.

Am

A nine pounder was brought into the fray,

G         F

The Minnechinass Hills did thunder.

Am

The canon roared with a sonic boom,

G         F

And the poplars crashed, and the bodies flew.

Am

A death chant wailed in the prairie gloom,

G         F

The dying voice of Gitchee Manitou!

Am

Almighty Voice, Almighty Voice, Almighty Voice, Almighty…

E                     Am

Free…but they caught him!

Am

Almighty Voice, Almighty Voice, Almighty Voice, Almighty…

E                     Am

Free…but they fought him!

Am

Gitchee Manitou Wayo…Yeah, Yeah!

E                     Am

Gitchee Manitou Wayo…Naw, Naw!

Am

Gitchee Manitou Wayo…Yeah, Yeah,

E                     Am

Gitchee Manitou Wayo…Wayo!

Am [Voice Over Music]

A Metis scout found a piece of skull and asked,

E                     Am

“Shall we check the bluff for a body?”

Am

“No, son,” the commander said.  “If a man could survive that debacle,

E                     Am

perhaps he truly is the Voice of the Almighty…and I don’t want to talk

Am

with him just yet!”