Lightning strikes the ocean's veil
Turned tempest sea, all free of sails
Thunderheaded clouds assail the island of Roanoke
The hurricane and her mighty eye,
Whirling in the widening gyre
The old poets words do roll
Over old Wanchese and Manteo.
Old Wanchese and Manteo
Were proud, noble, native souls
Who bowed to Raleigh as he broke
The circles of the sun.
And Raleigh knew he'd found his men
With fiercest framed and tanned hide skins.
Brazen tonges of Algonquin
Held the west yet to be won.
Manteo, between two world torn,
Turned his face forward-born
He traded in the clothes he'd worn
For brand new English flair
Raleigh baptized him in sin of Old World Civilisation
He opened up the gates
And in rode the future's heedless stare.
But old Wnachese, no he ain't so sure
About the promise of the future,
He threw himself back to the earth
That he had always known.
He tucked back into shadows black
When White's men came, well, he attacked
He walked backwards and brushed his tracks
For the earth ain't ours to own.
One looked forwad, one within
One sold the ground that kep his kin
The other shed the blood of men
Of a future come to fast.
And those two men live on today
In the costal towns that bare their names
And they'll treat you quite the same
For the future's just the past.
That town, Manteo, well he'd be pleased
To wine, and dine, and give you ease
For a night or four centuries, no,
Manteo, he don't mind
But old Wanchese, well, he holds a grudge,
He'll dash your vessels into dust,
Sink your house into the mud
And leave you wondering why.
Yeah Manteo, such a helpful hand,
Such a good old boy without a land,
Was it worth the plaque that stands
'Our Savage, Manteo'
While old Wanchese, his soul lays claim
To the roaring thunder, wind, and rain,
He's in the eye of that hurricane as it circles Roanoke
Well, the future may come on too strong.
Defile the past to right it's wrongs,
And leave you with a load of songs
To ease a wearied soul.
Cause in your soul, as in this great land,
A battle rages between two men,
Which one will you feed my friend;
Old Wanchese or Manteo?