LYRICS: Slaughter The Bear

I was born where the palmettos sway
Under moonlight on a sawgrass bay
Mama taught me where the berries grow
How to drink where the cool springs flow
But the pines fell quiet one by one
Chainsaws singing louder than the sun
Now the stars shine down on broken ground
And I don’t know where my home is now

They say I don’t belong here anymore
In the land my blood’s been on before
They draw their lines, they pave their prayers
Then they blame the wild for being there
I run scared where I once would roam
Every road cuts me further from home
If progress means I disappear
Then go on… slaughter the bear

I smell fear in the morning air
Not from hunger, not from nature’s snare
It’s the sound of engines, boots and guns
Calling me a problem, calling me done
I don’t know your laws or deeds
I just follow old survival needs
I never wanted your garbage can
I just want the woods you took for man

They say I don’t belong here anymore
In the land my blood’s been on before
They build their dreams on my despair
Then they curse my shadow when I’m there
I run scared where I once would roam
Every road cuts me further from home
If progress means I disappear
Then go on… slaughter the bear

I don’t hate you, I don’t fight
I just search for a place that feels right
If you stood here behind my eyes
You’d see a world slowly saying goodbye
My cubs ask why we move at night
Why the forest lost its fight
I got no words that they’ll understand
Just scars where there used to be land
History runs deeper than your claims
Deeper than your deeds and names
Before your fences, before your prayer
I was already living here

You say I don’t belong here anymore
In the land my blood’s been on before
You call it safety, you call it fair
Pull the trigger, say a prayer
I run scared where I once would roam
A refugee in my own home
If progress needs a villain, I’m right here
So go on… slaughter the bear