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".
Dance Me Around
Buffy Sainte-Marie Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
All those kisses that you gave to someone else
I wish I'd been around
But I was up there in the air
while you were over here
with both feet on the ground
Who'd've ever thought it
Got to find a way to show it
This effect you have on me
When I think about what I missed
I wish I coulda been your girl
And when I think about all I've lost
I could never count the cost
Cause of what we've got for free
And now it's later,
maybe better late than never
I don't know
But here you are with me
Dance Me Around again
Hold me like it's never gonna end
Finally I've found
somebody who's always been a friend
When I think about what I missed
I wish I coulda been your girl.
In this song, Buffy Sainte-Marie reflects on a missed opportunity in a relationship. The singer is filled with regret for not being there for her love interest when they were giving their love to someone else. She wishes she could have been there to experience their passionate kisses and have the opportunity to give hers in return. The singer was absent, doing something else up in the air, while her love interest was present and grounded. Buffy Sainte-Marie paints a picture of the things she missed, the experiences she never had with the one she loves. However, she also recognizes that there is something between them, a connection that is hard to explain, but powerful nonetheless. In this longing and regret, the singer is hoping for a way to express their deep love and affection for the one that got away.
In the second verse of the song, Buffy Sainte-Marie thinks about what she has lost due to her past mistakes. She acknowledges that she may never be able to truly understand the cost of her actions, but recognizes that it was her own fault. Despite all her regrets, she finds comfort in the fact that the connection she shares with her former love is still present, and that they have a chance to rekindle what they have lost. In the end, what they have is more valuable than the things she missed, and she hopes that they can dance together again and cherish every moment they have.
Line by Line Meaning
And when I think about all I missed
Reflecting on all the times that could have been spent with the person, but were missed due to different circumstances
All those kisses that you gave to someone else
Regretting the moments and affection given to others instead of being shared with the singer
I wish I'd been around
Wanting to have been present during times that were missed or absent
But I was up there in the air
Being occupied or caught up with other obligations or situations that prevented physical presence
while you were over here
While the other person was actively present or engaged in the current situation
with both feet on the ground
Being grounded, stable, and practical in their approach or mindset
Who'd've ever thought it
Expressing surprise or disbelief at the current reality and outcome
that it shoulda been you and me
Believing that the artist and the other person should have been together or in a relationship
Got to find a way to show it
Needing to communicate and express feelings to the other person
This effect you have on me
Acknowledging the impact and influence the other person has on the artist
When I think about what I missed
Reflecting on what the singer could have had or experienced if things had been different
I wish I coulda been your girl
Desiring to have been in a romantic relationship with the other person
And when I think about all I've lost
Thinking about what the singer has sacrificed or missed out on due to the current situation
I could never count the cost
Realizing that the cost of not being with the other person is immeasurable
Cause of what we've got for free
Acknowledging that the relationship or bond formed with the other person was genuine and not forced
And now it's later,
Reflecting on the current moment or reality
maybe better late than never
Hoping that it's not too late to pursue a relationship with the other person
I don't know
Expressing uncertainty and doubt about the situation and how it will unfold
But here you are with me
Acknowledging that the other person is currently with speaker and considering the possibility of a relationship
Dance Me Around again
Expressing desire and enjoyment for physical closeness and intimacy with the other person
Hold me like it's never gonna end
Wanting to be held and cherished in a way that conveys a sense of permanence and commitment
Finally I've found
Expressing gratitude and relief for finding someone who has always been a friend and potential romantic partner
somebody who's always been a friend
Appreciating the friendship and connection that formed between speaker and other person
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: BUFFY SAINTE MARIE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Chennae Lapatak
My favorite song of hers. Reminds me of when I was a little girl and my mom would take off and my dad would stay up waiting for her, I could see his pain, and hear it in the music he played. Doesnt really apply to the song, and its a pretty dejected memory, but its just what this song reminds me of.
Terri Jones
This woman is amazing!
Nagwa Yacoub
Wow
Erik Nyrell
Its nice
Tomi Frost
Well you just clearly stated what the song is about... amazing Captain Obvious! ^-^
Frédérique Couture
Buffalo NY