I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
A banner year 1864, don't
like the red man anymore,
can't have them taking up
good land. Give them a
token flag, trade pipes and
shake some hands, tell them
the white stripes stand for
peace. Say if they raise red
white and blue, bluecoats will
never shoot at you, but stripes
will lose their sheen. Black
Kettle was their chief, he only
wanted peace, under the
flag...a massacre at Sand
Creek.
Wave your flag. Salivate.
Stirring feelings of pride and
hate. A peace of cloth can't
hold your faith.
No flag flies, no banner
waves, see the empty pole
above his empty grave. No
one knows,
where he lies, and no one
knows why he had to die.
A banner year 1868, a bitter
end a twist of fate. Maps
won't hold this melanoma,
blurry part of Oklahoma,
where Custer shot and killed
Black Kettle.
A promise is a promise, a
judge of character. His
banner over me is love.
like the red man anymore,
can't have them taking up
good land. Give them a
token flag, trade pipes and
shake some hands, tell them
the white stripes stand for
peace. Say if they raise red
white and blue, bluecoats will
never shoot at you, but stripes
will lose their sheen. Black
Kettle was their chief, he only
wanted peace, under the
flag...a massacre at Sand
Creek.
Wave your flag. Salivate.
Stirring feelings of pride and
hate. A peace of cloth can't
hold your faith.
No flag flies, no banner
waves, see the empty pole
above his empty grave. No
one knows,
where he lies, and no one
knows why he had to die.
A banner year 1868, a bitter
end a twist of fate. Maps
won't hold this melanoma,
blurry part of Oklahoma,
where Custer shot and killed
Black Kettle.
A promise is a promise, a
judge of character. His
banner over me is love.
Lyrics submitted by ThreeMilesDown, edited by zehnra
Banner Year Lyrics as written by Kurt Bloch
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Just listening for the 784,654th time....and it's just perfect in every way. Just incredible. The only reason it was remade was to scoop up a boatload of money from a more modern and accepting audience. But it is a completely different song than the other one that sounds slapped together in a few takes without a thought for the meaning.
This song captivates me still, after 50+ years. Takes me to the deep South and the poverty of some who lived thru truly hard times. And the powerful spirit of a poor young girl being abandoned to her future with only a red dress and her wits to keep her alive.
She not only stayed alive, she turned her hard beginnings around, became self sufficient, successful and someone with respect for herself. She didn't let the naysayers and judgers stop her. She's the one sitting in the drivers seat at the end.
So, not a song about a poor girl, but a song of hope and how you can rise up no matter how far down you started.
There is a huge difference between a singer who simply belts out a song that is on a page in front of them, and someone who can convey an entire experience with their voice. Telling not just a story with words, but taking you inside it and making you feel like you are there, with their interpretation.
a song about a historical event, but also about the mis-treating of native Americans, during our civil war we tried to get them on our side by saying we wanted peace, but not all of the english immigrants wanted peace, some just wanted to have the land for their own and didn't want any indians around to get in the way and killed them or moved them shamelessly.
My favorite song off this album. i agree w/ what J35U5 wrote. Tells of our nations mistreatment of the Native Americans.
This one of my favorite FIF songs ever. As said before, it's about the Sand Creek Massacre.
This song was inspired by Dee Brown's "Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee." This book is quoted in another FIF song: "The Day We Killed."
And this is why I'm English, not American.
The first Americans (that did all this crap) where English, man.
@socialengineer <br /> <br /> However, were the English justified in their imperialistic pursuits? Maybe you should re-read "The White Man's Burden" or "Kim" or "The Man Who Would Be King" again...
@socialengineer You might want to do just the tiniest amount of reading about your own country. There's a phrase involving glass houses and rocks that's very appropriate here. If you wanted to rank modern countries by historical atrocities committed, as hard as we've been fighting our way up the leaderboards, we still have come close to England.