Ian & Sylvia - The Renegade (Lyrics) [HD]

Ian & Sylvia sing 'The Renegade' from their 1968 Vanguard album 'Nashville'. The song lyrics are in the video and listed below with notes about the singers.

[Vinyl/Lyrics/26-Images/WAV]

The Renegade (Singers-Ian & Sylvia)

Up on the hillside policemen were climbing;
The ghosts of the night wind their fantasies did tell.
Dark on the snow were the blood drops a-drying,
Slipped through cold fingers, the whiskey bottle fell.

Kla-how-ya, mother, I leave you with your white man;
I curse their church that tells us that our fathers were wrong!
And I'll hunt my own knowledge and I'll drink my own whiskey
And I'll sing until morning the old fashioned song.

Fires of the potlatch are all scattered in their ashes.
Masache-tamanawis, the evil ones remain.
And our children cannot follow the old nor the new ways
And the poles of their fathers are rotting in the rain.

Kla-how-ya, mother, I leave you with your white man;
I curse their church that tells us that our fathers were wrong!
And I'll hunt my own knowledge and I'll drink my own whiskey
And I'll sing until morning the old fashioned song.

Daylight came late over high coastal mountains.
The renegade stood watching with his rifle by his side
Then he emptied his gun up into the pale yellow sunrise
And he ran down the hillside to the place where he died.

Kla-how-ya, mother, I leave you with your white man;
I curse their church that tells us that our fathers were wrong!
And I'll hunt my own knowledge and I'll drink my own whiskey
And I'll sing until morning the old fashioned song.

Songwriters: Ian Tyson (Lyrics), Sylvia Fricker (Music)
© Witmark (ASCAP)
[Lyrics from TheLyricArchive]

Wikipedia states:

Ian Tyson, CM, AOE was born in Victoria, British Columbia, in 1933. In his teens, he decided upon a career as a rodeo rider. Recovering from injuries sustained from a fall during the mid-1950s, he started learning guitar. In the late 1950s, he relocated to Toronto, aspiring to a career as a commercial artist. He also started playing clubs and coffeehouses in Toronto. By 1959 he was performing music as a full-time occupation. Sylvia Tyson, née Fricker, CM, was born in Chatham, Ontario, in 1940. While still in her teens, she started frequenting the folk clubs of Toronto.

The two started performing together in Toronto in 1959. By 1962, they were living in New York City where they caught the attention of manager Albert Grossman, who managed Peter, Paul and Mary and would soon become Bob Dylan's manager.

[Whipspur]

Man, old Ian sure will be missed. Canadian and western icon.

[nbenefiel]

Thank you the photos add a lot to this poignant song.

[thistlewaggoner]

I've always loved this song since I heard it in my cradle

[peterr]

Memories from my past. As a young man, Ian & Sylvia, Joan Baez, Judy Collins, etc were my calming elements, along with Tchaikovsky, etc. Thank you for this clip, and especially for the photos and lyrics.

[Rod_J]

Thanks for the posting this great song along with the wonderful pictures and the lyrics. I have just one small correction. The line is "and I'll hunt my own mowich". Mowich is Chinook jargon for Deer.