This song is an ode to a black leather cowboy hat, handmade on a Cherokee reservation in North Carolina in the late 1990s. I had the pleasure of meeting the Native American craftsman who tanned and hand-formed the hat from a hide he prepared by hand.
For decades, it sat quietly on a shelf, as we moved from house to house.
Recently, I gave it a good cleaning, started wearing it again, and found myself wondering what stories it still had left to tell.
The Spirit Hat
-10 SEC. INTRO.
I am the Spirit Hat.
Made with pride, from deerskin hide.
On a reservation, smelled of indignation.
But they hunt wild game, with elation.
Keep the hide, to trade or sell.
A spirit hat. Gots tales to tell.
Tanned by hand.
By a Cherokee man.
OH, SPIRIT HA-AAAT
[BREAK]
Buffed and shined.
This ain’t no nursery rhyme.
Back from the dead.
Sittin’ on a head.
OH, SPIRIT HA-AAAT
[LONG BREAK]
Spoken: COME ON. CLAP YOUR HANDS!
WOAH SPIRIT HA-AAAT
“Here I am” rappin’ out a verse.
Is it a charm? Or a curse? OH
Spirit Hat. You got what I need.
OH… Plant another seed.
Fame and fortune is my desire.
Spirit Hat. Feed the fire.
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