Kaw-Liga was a wooden Indian standing by the door
He fell in love with an Indian maiden over in the antique store
Kaw-Liga just stood there and never let it show
So she could never answer yes or no He always wore his Sunday feathers and held a tomahawk
The maiden wore her beads and braids and hoped someday he’d talk
Kaw-Liga too stubborn to ever show a sign
Because his heart was made of knoty pine
Poor ol' Kaw-Liga he never got a kiss
Poor ol' Kaw-Liga he don’t know what he missed
Is it any wonder that his face is red
Kaw-Liga that poor ol' wooden head
Kaw-Liga was a lonely Indian never went nowhere
His heart was set on the Indian maiden with the coal black hair
Kaw-Liga just stood there and never let it show
So she could never answer yes or no And then one day a wealthy customer bought the Indian maid
And took her oh so far away but ol' Kaw-Liga stayed
Kaw-Liga just stands there as lonely as can be And wishes he was still an old pine tree
Poor ol' Kaw-Liga…
I remember being ~6 years old ('76) when a commercial came on TV (back when we had only 3 channels) advertising all of Charlie Pride's albums for something like $29.99 (basically a discography) and I begged my mum to order it for me. To my surprise she did. I listened to those albums over and over back then.
I wish I had saved them after my mum died in 2006.
My uncle played steel guitar for Charlie Pride for a while. I don't think it's my uncle on this recording, but he did play for Charlie Pride on the road for a while.
My grandfather used to sing this in the bars before I was born I learned it sitting in the front seat of my dads pickup and my kids are gonna learn it sitting shotgun in my rig. Bless this song for being something that's been passed down my family line.
The older Country and Bluegrass like this is what I like... the modern stuff just seems like they took some of the Backstreet Boys and put them in cowboy hats!!! It just doesn't have the same steel guitar, fiddle, dobro, etc. either.