The Condor at the West Gate
©1990 Dakota Sid Clifford


The condor soars above the storm
Where dreams begin and prayers are born
And sadly watches history take its toll
Somewhere below a spirit calls
Through the blinding snow, a feather falls
And gently touches down upon the soul

        The soothing of the nation or the death of all creation
        That's the choice that we are facing
        As we stand here toe to toe
        And anyone who's heard me sing or seen the condor on the wing
        No longer has the right of saying, they didn't know
        Don't let it go!

The valleys fill with pallid smoke
Mandelas wheel with a broken spoke
The greed of progress logs another birth
The demon's out, the devil's loose
The iron fist with the golden goose
Warmongers profiteering on the Earth

        The soothing of the nation or the death of all creation
        That's the choice that we are facing
        As we stand here toe to toe
        And anyone who's heard me sing or seen the condor on the wing
        No longer has the right of saying, they didn't know
        Don't let it go!

While man debates eternal fate
The condor rides the western gate
Untamed, unchanged, untarnished, to the end
The Indians Grandfather cries
There's a blinding light in the western skies
The condor's gone.....forever, comes again

        The soothing of the nation or the death of all creation
        That's the choice that we are facing
        As we stand here toe to toe
        And anyone who's heard me sing or seen the condor on the wing
        No longer has the right of saying, they didn't know
        Don't let it go!

The condor soars above the storm
Where dreams begin and prayers are born
And sadly watches history take its toll
Somewhere below a spirit calls
Through the blinding snow, a feather falls
And gently touches down upon the soul