1
The lights turned on and the curtain fell down
And when it was over it felt like a dream
They stood at the stage door and begged for a scream
The agents had paid for the black limousine
That waited outside in the rain
Did you see them, did you see them?
Did you see them in the river?
They were there to wave to you
Could you tell that the empty quivered
Brown skinned Indian on the banks
That were crowded and narrow
Held a broken arrow?
Eighteen years of American dream
He saw that his brother had sworn on the wall
He hung up his eyelids and ran down the hall
His mother had told him a trip was a fall
And don't mention babies at all
Did you see him, did you see him?
Did you see him in the river?
He was there to wave to you
Could you tell that the empty quivered
Brown skinned Indian on the banks
That were crowded and narrow
Held a broken arrow
The streets were lined for the wedding parade
The Queen wore the white gloves, the county of song
The black covered caisson her horses had drawn
Protected her king from the sun rays of dawn
They married for peace and were gone
Did you see them, did you see them?
Did you see them in the river?
They were there to wave to you
Could you tell that the empty quivered
Brown skinned Indian on the banks
That were crowded and narrow
Held a broken arrow?
And when it was over it felt like a dream
They stood at the stage door and begged for a scream
The agents had paid for the black limousine
That waited outside in the rain
Did you see them, did you see them?
Did you see them in the river?
They were there to wave to you
Could you tell that the empty quivered
Brown skinned Indian on the banks
That were crowded and narrow
Held a broken arrow?
Eighteen years of American dream
He saw that his brother had sworn on the wall
He hung up his eyelids and ran down the hall
His mother had told him a trip was a fall
And don't mention babies at all
Did you see him, did you see him?
Did you see him in the river?
He was there to wave to you
Could you tell that the empty quivered
Brown skinned Indian on the banks
That were crowded and narrow
Held a broken arrow
The streets were lined for the wedding parade
The Queen wore the white gloves, the county of song
The black covered caisson her horses had drawn
Protected her king from the sun rays of dawn
They married for peace and were gone
Did you see them, did you see them?
Did you see them in the river?
They were there to wave to you
Could you tell that the empty quivered
Brown skinned Indian on the banks
That were crowded and narrow
Held a broken arrow?
Lyrics submitted by democracys
Broken Arrow Lyrics as written by Neil Young
Lyrics © Hipgnosis Songs Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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At least part of the song is actually about the Kennedy assasination. With the first verse being Neil's perspective on being a rock star, the key to the rest of the song is the line from the second verse "Eighteen years of american dream" . This line is the only concrete line in a song full of imagery and allegory. If is to be taken seriously (there is no reason to think otherwise) then the obvious 18 years would be the ones immediately after WW2, where the USA took on its role of dominant power of the democratic world: 1945-1963. I don't really understand the rest of that verse, but it does end with the line "Did you see HIM?" not "them" as in the 1st and 3rd verses. The third verse is ostensibly about a wedding. But caissons are used in funeral processions not wedding processions. So if you transpose funeral for wedding and black for white then the rest sort of follows. Coincidentally, sufferers of Addison's Disease of which Kennedy was one, tend to have darkened (brown) skin due to a hormone disorder.