Ta Shunka Witco (Crazy Horse) comes somplete with tom-toms sounding like heartbeats, guitar attacks and flute, the song is tense and powerful as Hunter digs into history fairly often and Native American themes are a topic of interest, e.g., River of Tears. The attraction for Ian is the underdog nature of historical characters and Crazy Horse is ideal for that purpose.
Cavalry tactics dictate that on the defense soldiers dismount but at the Battle of Little Bighorn the accounts state that Crazy Horse (tashunka witco) did the same as noted in the song:
I never shoot from the saddle
Always shoot from the ground
I walk my horse up 'n' I ride him down
The cavalry retreated as they were surrounded and outnumbered as there were a series of ground attacks until all of Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer's men were killed.
"I decoyed Fetterman" refers to the Fetterman Fight on 21 December 1866 when Crazy Horse and nine warriors lured a detachment of 81 troopers to their death who were led by Captain William J. Fetterman. The song relates:
The only good white is a dead white
That's what I was taught
Truthfully, Hunter relates that Crazy Horse, Lakota war leader of the Oglala band, fought not only troopers but also other Native Americans such as the Shoshone, Arapahoe, Omaha, and Crow. As a young boy Crazy Horse was known as Curley Hair. Later he was renamed Horse On Sight. During a battle with the Arapahos the young Crazy Horse showed bravery. As a result Crazy Horse, the father, passed on his name to his son in honor of his war deed. The father would be known thereafter as Worm.
There is a live version of the song from 2012 as well.
Ian Hunter On Track for Sonicbond Publishing, TheDoctorOfDigital@pm.me
https://www.nps.gov/libi/learn/historyculture/crazy-horse.htm
The Fetterman Fight, also known as the Fetterman Massacre or the Battle of the Hundred-in-the-Hands or the Battle of a Hundred Slain,[1] was a battle during Red Cloud's War on December 21, 1866, between a confederation of the Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes and a detachment of the United States Army, based at Fort Phil Kearny, Wyoming. The U.S. military mission was intended to protect travelers on the Bozeman Trail. A group of ten warriors, including Crazy Horse, acted to lure a detachment of U.S. soldiers into an ambush. All 81 men under the command of Captain William J. Fetterman were then killed by the Native American warriors. At the time, it was the worst military disaster ever suffered by the U.S. Army on the Great Plains.
Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer
Crow King said, “When they saw that they were surrounded they dismounted.” This was cavalry tactics by the book. There was no other way to make a stand or maintain a stout defense. A brief period followed of deliberate fighting on foot.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-the-battle-of-little-bighorn-was-won-63880188/
(Ian Hunter)
All I need is a feather
All I need is a stone
All I need is a shadow
To follow me home
All I need is a vision
All I need is a dream
All I need are my people following me
I never shoot from the saddle
Always shoot from the ground
I walk my horse up 'n' I ride him down,
I decoyed Fetterman, I got no remorse
They used to call me Curly now I'm Crazy Horse
We fought Shoshone, we fought Arapahoes
We fought the Omahas 'n' we fought the Crows
I can't wait to cut your long hair short
The only good white is a dead white
That's what I was taught
Hey, hey, hey
hey, hey, hey
Hoka hey, hoka hey
Paid by the rich to steal from the poor
There ain't no honour in ya
Ta shunka witco, ta shunka witco, ta shunka witco, Crazy Horse
I know these rivers
I know this land
I know those hills like the back of my hand
Now the buffalo's gone, there ain't nothin' left
'cept little yellow stones in this wilderness
I lost my brother, I lost my wife
I lost my daughter, the love of my life
Tell your great white father up in Washington
I got a knife between my teeth for that fork in his tongue
Hey, hey, hey
hey, hey, hey
Hoka hey, hoka hey
You're gonna wish you'd never been born
When you get to Little Big Horn
Ta Shunka Witco, ta shunka witco, ta shunka witco, Crazy Horse
When you talk peace, you mean war, we'll be waiting for ya
Ta shunka witco, ta shunka witco, ta shunka witco
Never surrender, never surrender, never surrender
Never surrender, never surrender, never surrender
Never surrender
Ta Shunka Witco (Crazy Horse) | 5:47 | Originally issued on When I'm President. |
Ta Shunka Witco (Crazy Horse) (live 8th October 2012) | 6:45 | This live version (recorded at the John Dee, Oslo Norway) was released on Bag Of Tricks (Vol 3) (box set only). |