David Rovics - Song For Big Mountain lyrics

Our grandparents were born here Their ancestors lived on this earth The land is the people and the people are the land And this is the land of our birth But now you want to move us off this mesa As if you can take a body from a soul You want to take from us our paradise on earth And trade it for a mountain of coal What if they were coming for your grandma What if they were coming for your child What if they were tearing up the land beneath your feet Even taking the rivers that were once running wild What would you do If they were coming for you? 2. The coal is the liver of our Mother And it must remain in the ground The trees are her lungs and the rivers are her blood And they should all be left as they were found But now you slurry coal across these pastures And your trees all go to feed your hungry mill You would have us live in rows of shacks without our sheep On your Church Rock uranium spill What if they were coming for your grandma What if they were coming for your child What if they were tearing up the land beneath your feet Even taking the rivers that were once running wild What would you do If they were coming for you? Like some cancer spreading ever westward Coming to knock down our hogan's door And we will say to anyone who'll listen Relocation, nevermore So won't you come to Big Mountain Bring everything you can, but come today This is the land where we belong And this is the land where we will stay What if they were coming for your grandma What if they were coming for your child What if they were tearing up the land beneath your feet Even taking the rivers that were once running wild What would you do If they were coming for you?