songwriter, musician, composer, visual artist, educator, pacifist, and social activist. Throughout her career in all of these areas, her work has focused on issues of indigenous peoples of the Americas. Her singing and writing repertoire also includes subjects of love, war, religion, and mysticism.
In 1997, she founded the Cradleboard Teaching Project, an educational curriculum devoted to better understanding Native Americans. She has won recognition and many awards and honours for both her music and her work in education and social activism.
Buffy Sainte-Marie was born in 1941 on the Piapot Plains Cree First Nation Reserve in the Qu'Appelle Valley, Saskatchewan, Canada. She was later adopted, growing up in Massachusetts, with parents Albert and Winifred Sainte-Marie. She attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, earning degrees in teaching and Oriental philosophy and graduating in the top ten of her class. She went on to earn a Ph.D in Fine Art from the University of Massachusetts.
In 1964, on a return trip to the Piapot Cree reserve in Canada for a powwow she was welcomed and (in a Cree Nation context) adopted by the youngest son of Chief Piapot, Emile Piapot and his wife, who added to Sainte-Marie's cultural value of, and place in, native culture.
In 1968, she married surfing teacher Dewain Bugbee of Hawaii; they divorced in 1971. She married Sheldon Wolfchild from Minnesota in 1975; they have a son, Dakota "Cody" Starblanket Wolfchild. That union also ended in divorce. She married her co-writer for "Up Where We Belong," Jack Nitzsche, on March 19, 1982. He died from a heart attack on August 25, 2000. As of 2007, she lives in Hawaii.
Although not a Bahá'í herself, she became an active friend of the Bahá'í Faith by the mid-1970s when she is said to have appeared in the 1973 Third National Bahá'í Youth Conference at the Oklahoma State Fairgrounds, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and has continued to appear at concerts, conferences and conventions of that religion since then. In 1992, she appeared in the musical event prelude to the Bahá'í World Congress, a double concert "Live Unity: The Sound of the World" in 1992 with video broadcast and documentary. In the video documentary of the event Sainte-Marie is seen on the Dini Petty Show explaining the Bahá'í teaching of progressive revelation. She also appears in the 1985 video "Mona With The Children" by Douglas John Cameron. However, while she supports a universal sense of religion, she does not subscribe to any particular religion.
Sainte-Marie claimed in a 2008 interview at the National Museum of the American Indian that she had been blacklisted by American radio stations and that she, along with Native Americans and other native people in the Red Power movements, were put out of business in the 1970s.
In a 1999 interview at Diné College with a staff writer with the Indian Country Today, Sainte-Marie said "I found out 10 years later, in the 1980s, that President Lyndon B. Johnson had been writing letters on White House stationery praising radio stations for suppressing my music" and "In the 1970s, not only was the protest movement put out of business, but the Native American movement was attacked."
As a result of this blacklisting led by (among others) Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, and Nashville disc jockey Ralph Emery (following the release of I'm Gonna Be a Country Girl Again), Sainte-Marie said "I was put out of business in the United States".
Cripple Creek
Buffy Sainte-Marie Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Goin' up to see her about two times a week
Kiss her on the mouth, sweet as any wine
Wrap herself around me like a sweet potato vine
Goin' up Cripple Creek, goin' on a run
Goin' up Cripple Creek to have a little fun
Goin' up Cripple Creek, goin' in a whirl
Now the girls up Cripple Creek about half-grown
Jump on a boy like a dog on a bone
Roll my britches up to my knees
Wade old Cripple Creek whenever I please
Goin' up Cripple Creek, goin' on a run
Goin' up Cripple Creek to have a little fun
Goin' up Cripple Creek, goin' in a whirl
Goin' up Cripple Creek to see my little girl
Now, Cripple Creek's wide and Cripple Creek's deep
Wade old Cripple Creek before I sleep
Hills are steep and the roads are muddy
And I'm so dizzy that I can't stand steady I'm
Goin' up Cripple Creek, goin' on a run
Goin' up Cripple Creek to have a little fun
Goin' up Cripple Creek, goin' in a whirl
Goin' up Cripple Creek to see my little girl
The lyrics to Buffy Sainte-Marie's song "Cripple Creek" describe a man's journeys up to a creek to see his girl. He says he goes up to see her about two times a week, kisses her on the mouth, and wraps her around him like a sweet potato vine. The man then sings about going up Cripple Creek to have a little fun, with the lyrics repeating that same phrase throughout the song. He mentions the girls up the creek jumping on boys like dogs on a bone and how he rolls up his britches to wade in the creek whenever he pleases. The man also acknowledges the steep hills and muddy roads surrounding Cripple Creek but continues to push through to see his "little girl."
At first glance, the lyrics seem like a simple and joyful love song, but upon further analysis, it becomes clear that the song has a more complex meaning. The use of the phrase "little girl" to refer to his love interest raises concerns about potential infantilization and power dynamics in their relationship. Additionally, the reference to the girls up Cripple Creek jumping on boys like dogs on a bone could be interpreted as objectifying and sexist. Lastly, the mention of the steep hills and muddy roads could represent the obstacles and difficulties the man faces in his journey to see his love interest, potentially symbolizing the challenges and sacrifices required in a relationship.
Line by Line Meaning
Hey, I got a girl at the head of the creek
I have a girlfriend who lives at the source of the creek.
Goin' up to see her about two times a week
I visit her twice a week.
Kiss her on the mouth, sweet as any wine
I kiss her passionately and it feels as good as drinking wine.
Wrap herself around me like a sweet potato vine
She embraces me tightly like how a sweet potato vine entwines itself around its support.
Goin' up Cripple Creek, goin' on a run
I'm heading to Cripple Creek for a quick getaway.
Goin' up Cripple Creek to have a little fun
I'm going there to have some fun.
Goin' up Cripple Creek, goin' in a whirl
Going up to Cripple Creek gives me a feeling of excitement and adventure.
Goin' up Cripple Creek to see my little girl
I am going up to Cripple Creek to see my girlfriend.
Now the girls up Cripple Creek about half-grown
The girls in Cripple Creek are young and inexperienced.
Jump on a boy like a dog on a bone
They eagerly grab onto boys like how dogs are possessive of bones.
Roll my britches up to my knees
I roll up my pants to my knees when walking through the creek.
Wade old Cripple Creek whenever I please
I can walk through the creek anytime I want.
Now, Cripple Creek's wide and Cripple Creek's deep
Cripple Creek has a large width and depth.
Wade old Cripple Creek before I sleep
I want to walk through the creek before I go to sleep.
Hills are steep and the roads are muddy
The hills in the area are steep and the roads are often covered in mud.
And I'm so dizzy that I can't stand steady I'm
The excitement of the place has made me dizzy and unable to stand straight.
Goin' up Cripple Creek, goin' on a run
I'm going to Cripple Creek for a quick getaway.
Goin' up Cripple Creek to have a little fun
I'm going to Cripple Creek to have some fun.
Goin' up Cripple Creek, goin' in a whirl
Going up to Cripple Creek gives me a feeling of excitement and adventure.
Goin' up Cripple Creek to see my little girl
I am going up to Cripple Creek to see my girlfriend.
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Buffy Sainte Marie
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@NoorAlHaqiqa
I love this song now almost more than I did back in the 1960's.
@EcstaticMomentzHereFirst
YES, she demonstrates the Mouth Bow in another one. She's amazing how she can get the rhythms & sounds from a bow.
@nomadmarauder-dw9re
Well, it's in Godfather 3.
@bluemicrodot
I have the old record of this, and I grew up on it...For many years, the only recording of this I could find was the Sesame St version. I am happy I can find more than one, now. That means that Buffy is becoming more important and meaningful to people.
@raymondcrooke
Thanks for sharing this wonderful recording of one of my favourite singers, Max. I've subscribed to this channel immediately. So glad you drew my attention to it.
@Zhawq
It's great to hear those songs again. I haven't heard them in maybe 25 years. And thanks for displaying the lyrics too. It is much appreciated, This is one of the songs I never understood in detail. I understood the general story in the song but couldn't hear what words she sang. Very frustrating back then. Uncle Joe is like that too. No matter how closely I listened I only got a general idea of what the song is about,while the individual words kept escaping me. Wonderful to finally catch up :)
@therealzilch
This is a masterpiece. Thank you Buffy.
cheers from sunny Vienna, Scott
@joekraft5913
Cheers from North Idaho brother <3 - Joe
@therealzilch
@@joekraft5913 I've never been further north than Twin Falls. I hear there's some beautiful country up your way.
@joekraft5913
I live near boundary county Idaho in Sandpoint a stones throw from the Canadian border, it is truly beautiful country up this way you've gotta see it! :)