Verse 1
It was late in 1830 when trouble first began
A policy of removal set to law by crooked hands
Pushed a peaceful Cherokee people from their eastern woodland homes
To the plains of Oklahoma
Chorus
They say you can't go back in time
Sure seems to me like someone should
They say you can't go back in time
But I'd re-write me some history if I could
Verse 2
They fought a crooked system but the crooked system won
So they left for Oklahoma through snow and burnin' sun
Starvation and diseases left a string of unmarked graves
Along the way to Oklahoma
Chorus
They say you can't go back in time
Sure seems to me like someone should
They say you can't go back in time
But I'd re-write me some history if I could
Bridge
It's half a paragraph in a slanted history book
Painted over and not what it appears
Sixteen thousand men women and children
Forced to walk a trail of tears
Repeat Verse 1
It was late in 1830 when trouble first began
A policy of removal set to law by crooked hands
Pushed a peaceful Cherokee people from their eastern woodland homes
To the plains of Oklahoma
Chorus
They say you can't go back in time
Sure seems to me like someone should
They say you can't go back in time
But I'd re-write me some history if I could
