The Ballad of Ira Hayes

<p>[Intro]<br/>Ira Hayes<br/>Ira Hayes<br/><br/>[Chorus]<br/>Call him drunken Ira Hayes<br/>He won&#x27;t answer anymore<br/>Not the whiskey drinking Indian<br/>Nor the Marine that went to war<span><br/><br/>[Verse 1]<br/>Gather round me people there&#x27;s a story I would tell<br/>About a brave young Indian you should remember well<br/>From the land of the Pima Indian<br/>A proud and noble band<br/>Who farmed the Phoenix valley in Arizona land<br/>Down the ditches for a thousand years<br/>The water grew Ira&#x27;s peoples&#x27; crops<span><br/>Until the white man stole the water rights<br/>And the sparkling water stopped<br/>Now Ira&#x27;s folks were hungry<br/>And their land grew crops of weeds<span><br/>When war came, Ira volunteered<br/>And forgot the white man&#x27;s greed<br/>[Chorus]<br/>Call him drunken Ira Hayes<br/>He won&#x27;t answer anymore<br/>Not the whiskey drinking Indian<br/>Nor the Marine that went to war<br/><br/>[Bridge]<br/>There they battled up Iwo Jima&#x27;s hill<br/>Two hundred and fifty men<br/>But only twenty-seven lived to walk back down again<span><br/><br/>[Verse 2]<br/>And when the fight was over<br/>And when Old Glory raised<br/>Among the men who held it high<br/>Was the Indian, Ira Hayes<span><br/><br/>[Chorus]<br/>Call him drunken Ira Hayes<br/>He won&#x27;t answer anymore<br/>Not the whiskey drinking Indian<br/>Nor the Marine that went to war<br/><br/>[Bridge]<br/>Ira Hayes returned a hero<br/>Celebrated through the land<br/>He was wined and speeched and honored<br/>Everybody shook his hand<br/>[Verse 3]<br/>But he was just a Pima Indian<br/>No water, no home, no chance<br/>At home nobody cared what Ira&#x27;d done<br/>And when did the Indians dance?<br/><br/>[Chorus]<br/>Call him drunken Ira Hayes<br/>He won&#x27;t answer anymore<br/>Not the whiskey drinking Indian<br/>Nor the Marine that went to war<br/><br/>[Verse 4]<br/>Then Ira started drinking hard<br/>Jail was often his home<br/>They&#x27;d let him raise the flag and lower it<br/>Like you&#x27;d throw a dog a bone!<br/>He died drunk early one morning<br/>Alone in the land he fought to save<br/>Two inches of water in a lonely ditch<br/>Was a grave for Ira Hayes<span><br/><br/>[Chorus]<br/>Call him drunken Ira Hayes<br/>He won&#x27;t answer anymore<br/>Not the whiskey drinking Indian<br/>Nor the Marine that went to war<span><br/>[Verse 5]<br/>Yeah, call him drunken Ira Hayes<br/>But his land is just as dry<br/>And his ghost is lying thirsty<span><br/>In the ditch where Ira died