The Trail of Tears, when Native Americans were forced into Oklahoma from all over the United States by the Indian Removal Act of 1830 signed by President Andrew Jackson. You can read more about it on wikipedia if you're not familiar. [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trail_of_Tears ]
All the lyrics point to this, such as :
[ i'm raising you five a hundred treaties, signed by your father's lies : who made you go, cause i'm trailing her tears. the ones you won't hold. you roll me a carpet, boy. roll me a carpet, boy. roll me a carpet from here to oklahoma ] -- Jackson is the father of lies who Tori is challenging in her song.
[to you it's another day to me it's a grim reaping. just another shooting star strung out on your wire] -- The government just uses the Native Americans, who are pretty much defeated when it's a normal day for the rest of America.
[ so you get done then you get some. should have known it won't hold you for long. then you say fine, this is all mine. ] -- Once the government has finished their wars and they reap the benefits, the Native Americans know that it's not enough. The "man" always wants more. In fact, they give Oklahoma to the Native Americans to pretty much say it's all theirs. This could be taken either way though, in that all the rest of America now belongs to the man, so fine, it's all mine.
Some sort of love affair or a rape of some sort. Maybe both considering she's talking about Native Americans and the kind of America that was around before it was colonized. The land, the people, everything being raped.
[ got a blackberry stain and they're not even in season. if you're not yet a woman, you've got no business playing at this ] -- Implying dark stains such as blackberries when they're not in season makes me automatically think of blood in a most violent and sexual way. Someone is being sexually abused. The line about being a woman makes me think that even adolescent Native American women were sexually abused by soldiers.
[ tombigbee, tombigbee help me hang these bones, gotta hang these bones out to dry. he loved me, he loved me, ravishingly low. gonna hang these bones out to dry ] -- Dry out the bones makes me think of the civilization dying itself. All we have our these dusty old bones with the help of tombigbee, the river, who was there to guide us to Oklahoma. He loved me, ravishingly low refers to the government and how they were "kind" enough to spare all the great wide land of Oklahoma for 20,000 or so people who had the whole of America beforehand.
Makes me think of 2 main things.
All the lyrics point to this, such as :
[ i'm raising you five a hundred treaties, signed by your father's lies : who made you go, cause i'm trailing her tears. the ones you won't hold. you roll me a carpet, boy. roll me a carpet, boy. roll me a carpet from here to oklahoma ] -- Jackson is the father of lies who Tori is challenging in her song.
[to you it's another day to me it's a grim reaping. just another shooting star strung out on your wire] -- The government just uses the Native Americans, who are pretty much defeated when it's a normal day for the rest of America.
[ so you get done then you get some. should have known it won't hold you for long. then you say fine, this is all mine. ] -- Once the government has finished their wars and they reap the benefits, the Native Americans know that it's not enough. The "man" always wants more. In fact, they give Oklahoma to the Native Americans to pretty much say it's all theirs. This could be taken either way though, in that all the rest of America now belongs to the man, so fine, it's all mine.
[ got a blackberry stain and they're not even in season. if you're not yet a woman, you've got no business playing at this ] -- Implying dark stains such as blackberries when they're not in season makes me automatically think of blood in a most violent and sexual way. Someone is being sexually abused. The line about being a woman makes me think that even adolescent Native American women were sexually abused by soldiers.
[ tombigbee, tombigbee help me hang these bones, gotta hang these bones out to dry. he loved me, he loved me, ravishingly low. gonna hang these bones out to dry ] -- Dry out the bones makes me think of the civilization dying itself. All we have our these dusty old bones with the help of tombigbee, the river, who was there to guide us to Oklahoma. He loved me, ravishingly low refers to the government and how they were "kind" enough to spare all the great wide land of Oklahoma for 20,000 or so people who had the whole of America beforehand.