Lyrics Blood and Bones - Our Native Daughters, Amythyst Kiah, Rhiannon Giddens

Blood and Bones

Blood and bones are what we’re made of
Not enough steel to reconcile
Crying out into the darkness
One sure way to feel alive
Demon mouths lined with halos
Thinly veiled, but no surprise
Rest assured, a welcomed surplus
Of systematic lies
This child ain’t mine but my hands are tied
She’s a life of bounty, and her skin is white
Under my care she’ll play and thrive
In a few years, I’ll be cast aside
I was once a noble daughter
Our kingdom spanned the breadth of Ghana
But I was captured for the silver
Sent across the sea to a land unknown
Our rival sold me to some white men
Skin as though it came from heaven
When they bound us to their will
They trapped themselves in hell as well
Blood and bones are what we’re made of
Not enough steel to reconcile
Crying out into the darkness
One sure way to feel alive
Demon mouths lined with halos
Thinly veiled, but no surprise
Rest assured, a welcomed surplus
Of systematic lies
One brother white, the other black
One brother loved and the other’s
One brother kept, the other sold
Kinship denied is kinship still
Bred in bone and bathed in blood
Two brothers begged for light and love
White father twisting his own soul
To deny what all must know
Blood and bones are what we’re made of
Not enough steel to reconcile
Crying out into the darkness
One sure way to feel alive
Demon mouths lined with halos
Thinly veiled, but no surprise
Rest assured, a welcomed surplus
Of systematic lies
Blood and bones are what we’re made of
Not enough steel to reconcile
Crying out into the darkness
One sure way to feel alive
Demon mouths lined with halos
Thinly veiled, but no surprise
Rest assured, a welcomed surplus
Of systematic lies