The Ballad of Ira Hayes · letra

Intro

Ira Hayes Ira Hayes

Chorus

Call him drunken Ira Hayes He won't answer anymore Not the whiskey drinking Indian Nor the Marine that went to war

Verse 1

Gather round me people there's a story I would tell About a brave young Indian you should remember well From the land of the Pima Indian A proud and noble band Who farmed the Phoenix valley in Arizona land Down the ditches for a thousand years The water grew Ira's peoples' crops Until the white man stole the water rights And the sparkling water stopped Now Ira's folks were hungry And their land grew crops of weeds When war came, Ira volunteered And forgot the white man's greed

Chorus

Call him drunken Ira Hayes He won't answer anymore Not the whiskey drinking Indian Nor the Marine that went to war

Bridge

There they battled up Iwo Jima's hill Two hundred and fifty men But only twenty-seven lived to walk back down again

Verse 2

And when the fight was over And when Old Glory raised Among the men who held it high Was the Indian, Ira Hayes

Chorus

Call him drunken Ira Hayes He won't answer anymore Not the whiskey drinking Indian Nor the Marine that went to war

Bridge

Ira Hayes returned a hero Celebrated through the land He was wined and speeched and honored Everybody shook his hand

Verse 3

But he was just a Pima Indian No water, no home, no chance At home nobody cared what Ira'd done And when did the Indians dance?

Chorus

Call him drunken Ira Hayes He won't answer anymore Not the whiskey drinking Indian Nor the Marine that went to war

Verse 4

Then Ira started drinking hard Jail was often his home They'd let him raise the flag and lower it Like you'd throw a dog a bone! He died drunk early one morning Alone in the land he fought to save Two inches of water in a lonely ditch Was a grave for Ira Hayes

Chorus

Call him drunken Ira Hayes He won't answer anymore Not the whiskey drinking Indian Nor the Marine that went to war

Verse 5

Yeah, call him drunken Ira Hayes But his land is just as dry And his ghost is lying thirsty In the ditch where Ira died