Ballad Of Ira Hayes
Ton : AEnglish
IrAa Hayes Ira DHayes
(ref :) Call him druAnken Ira Hayes
he won't aDnswer anymore
not the wEhiskey drinking Indian
nor the MAarine that went to war
AGather round me people there's a sDtory I would tell
about a bErave young Indian you Ashould 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
till the white man stole the water rights and the sparklin 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
ref :)
There they battled up Iwo Jima's hill, Two hundred and fifty men
but only twenty-seven lived to walk back down again
and when the fight was over and when Old Glory raised
among the men who held it high was the Indian, Ira Hayes
ref :)
Ira returned a hero celebrated through the land
he was wined and speeched and honored; everybody shook his hand
but he was just a Pima Indian--no water, no crops, no chance
at home nobody cared what Ira'd done and when did the Indians dance
ref :)
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 one morning alone in the land he fought to save
two inches of water in a lonely ditch was a grave for Ira Hayes
ref :)
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
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