"Hey Ah" lyrics - LAURIE ANDERSON
It was up in Canada and it was August, but very cold. I had been staying on this Cree Indian reservation for a few days, just sort of hanging around. One day, some anthropologists showed up at the reservation. They came in a little plane with maple leaves painted on the wings. They said they were there to shoot a documentary of the Cree Indians. They set up their video equipment in a tin Quonset hut next to the Hudson Bay Company. Then they asked the oldest man on the reservation to come and sing some songs for their documentary. On the day of the taping, the old man arrived. He was blind and wearing a red plaid shirt. They turned on some lights and he started to sing. But he kept starting over and sweating. Pretty soon it was clear that he didn't really know any of the songs. He just kept starting over and sweating and rocking back and forth. The only words he really seemed sure of were "Hey ah... hey ah hey... hey hey hey ah hey... hey..."
(Hey ah hey hey hey ah hey) I am singing the songs,
(Hey ah hey ah hey) the old songs... but I can't remember the words of the old songs,
(Hey hey hey ah hey) the old hunting songs.
I am singing the songs of my fathers and of the animals they hunted down.
(Hey hey hey ah hey) I never knew the words of the old songs.
(Hey hey ah hey hey hey hey ah hey) I never went hunting.
(Hey hey ah ah hey ah hey) I never sang the songs
(Hey ah hey) of my fathers.
(Hey hey ah hey) I am singing for this movie;
(Hey ah) I am doing this for money.
(Hey hey ah hey) I remember Grandfather; he lay on his back while he was dying.
(Hey ah hey hey ah hey) I think I am no one.
(Hey hey ah hey hey)
United States Live (1984)
- Say Hello
- Walk The Dog
- Violin Solo
- Closed Circuits
- For A Large And Changing Room
- Pictures Of It
- Language Of The Future
- Cartoon Song
- Small Voice
- Three Walking Songs
- The Healing Horn
- New Jersey Turnpike
- So Happy Birthday
- English
- Dance Of Electricity
- Three Songs For Paper, Film And Video
- Sax Solo
- Sax Duet
- Born, Never Asked
- From The Air
- Beginning French
- O Superman
- Talkshow
- Frames For The Pictures
- Democratic Way
- Looking For You
- Walking & Falling
- Private Property
- Neon Duet
- Let X=X
- The Mailman's Nightmare
- Difficult Listening Hour
- Language Is A Virus
- Reverb
- If You Can't Talk About It, Point To It
- Violin Walk
- City Song
- Finnish Farmers
- Red Map
- Hey Ah
- Bagpipe Solo
- Steven Weed
- Time And A Half
- Voices On Tape
- Example #22
- Strike
- False Documents
- New York Social Life
- A Curious Phenomenon
- Yankee See
- I Dreamed I Had To Take A Test...
- Running Dogs
- Four, Three, Two, One
- The Big Top
- It Was Up In The Mountains
- Odd Objects
- Dr. Miller
- Big Science
- Big Science Reprise
- Cello Solo
- It Tango
- Blue Lagoon
- Langue D'Amour
- Stiff Neck
- Telephone Song
- Sweaters
- We've Got Four Big Clocks
- Song For Two Jims
- Over The River
- Mach 20
- Rising Sun
- The Visitors
- The Stranger
- Classified
- Going Somewhere?
- Fireworks
- Dog Show
- Lighting Out For The Territories