Bella Coola

We decided to live beyond the town's border By the tall cedar trees under the totem crow The civilized world beyond the blue horizon Reminds us of the ones we loved, we had to let them go And down this river not the flames but the cold will burn you You feel like Job as you climb the mighty banks of stone And righteousness will prevail even if it turns you Men grow cynical trying to follow that heavenly rule And they say the water would not breach But I feel it flowing over me And they say follow, trust in the rule But I know better and so do you And down this river the cold will burn you You feel like Job as you climb the banks of stone And righteousness will prevail even if it turns you Men grow cynical trying to follow the rule And they say the water would not breach But I feel it flowing over me And they say follow, trust in the rule But I know better I see my face in the crumbling clay in the water Oh it's coming up over the rocks whether or not we're ready for it Whether or not we're ready for it I remember that day, it came through the floor It rose to our knees, it kept coming more But the walls they held tight 'cause the cedar trees jammed By the grace of that night and our quivering hands The blue horizon's rising whether or not we're ready for it Whether or not we're ready for it And they called out the boats in the blood orange dawn Nusatsum proved the authorities wrong Father held me in his arms, I felt safe in his arms Without haste in his arms, rushing water below me Hands numb to the wrist, we had to walk up hill To the man with the municipal list, he said we cannot make it The signature paper, you're on your own I fear An act of god was here, it voids the guarantee And then he disappeared, this is my memory