[Intro: Mardi Gras Indian chant male lead, chanting over the booming bass drum] Spy boy, spy boy, what you see down the street Flag boy, flag boy, tell 'em who they gonna meet [Verse 1: Mardi Gras Indian chant male lead, low and steady over the bass drum] Day after Carnival, I'm back at the kitchen table Needle in my fingers and the lamp hung from a cable Eleven months of midnights and eleven months of beads Sewin' every picture of the story that it needs Heron on the chest plate and a river down the arm And a chief upon a horse who never did nobody harm My knuckles bled in August and my eyes went bad in June But I sewed through every summer storm and every rainy afternoon [Verse 2: Mardi Gras Indian chant male lead, rising, shakers rattling] Back in Grandaddy's day a humbug meant a fight Two tribes upon a corner and the whole block holdin' tight Now the fight is who is prettier, the fight is in the thread And the chief from up the river says he's gonna knock me dead Flag boy comes a-runnin', says, "He's comin' in the green Biggest crown of feathers that this street has ever seen" Spy boy on the corner throws his arm up like a gate And the crowd along the sidewalk starts to back up and to wait [Hook: Mardi Gras Indian chant male lead, full band, bass drum booming] You want a humbug, Big Chief, I been ready all year Every night a thousand beads and every bead a spear I don't throw a hand, I just open up my wings And the whole of the corner goes quiet while my needle sings [Verse 3: Mardi Gras Indian chant male lead, rival drum, a second bass drum pounding in from the other side] There he is, he's twelve feet tall in emerald and gold And he stops a yard in front of me, he's grinnin', and he's bold Says, "Bow down, Big Chief," and he shakes his crown out wide And the feathers fill the street up from the one side to the other side I don't say a single word and I don't raise a hand Then I lift my arms up slowly and I let the beadwork stand Heron catches sunlight and the river starts to run And eleven months of midnights light the corner like the sun And the chief in green looks down at it, he's quiet for a while Then he takes a knee and bows, and then he shows me half a smile [Final Hook: Mardi Gras Indian chant male lead, full band, both drums pounding] You want a humbug, Big Chief, I been ready all year Every night a thousand beads and every bead a spear I don't throw a hand, I just open up my wings And the whole of the corner goes quiet while my needle sings [End]
