Skip to content
Lyric
Dive
Public playlists
My playlists
Search
Sign in
Ira Hayes
Townes Van Zandt
Popularity ยท Moderate
+
๐ฌ๐ง English ยท Original
0
0
Listen
YouTube
1
2
3
0:00 / 0:00
Loading YouTube player...
Lyrics offset
Synced
Lyrics
Original
Translation
Bilingual
Well, come gather 'round me people
A story I'd like to tell
About a brave young Indian
That you should remember well
From a tribe of Pima Indians
A proud and noble band
Who farmed the Phoenix valley
Down in Arizona land
ย
Down the ditches for ten thousand years
The sparkling waters rushed
And the white man stole the water rights
And all the runnin' waters hushed
Now Ira's folks grow hungry
Their farms grow crops of weeds
When war came Ira volunteered
And forgot the white man's greed
ย
Call him drunken Ira Hayes
He won't answer anymore
Not the whiskey drinkin' Indian
The Marine that went to war
ย
They battled up Iwo Jima hill
Two hundred and fifty men
And only twenty-seven lived
To walk back down again
And when that fight was over
And when Old Glory raised
Among the men that held her high
Was the Indian Ira Hayes
ย
Call him drunken Ira Hayes
He won't answer anymore
Not the whiskey drinkin' Indian
The Marine that went to war
ย
Well, Ira came back a hero
He was celebrated throughout the land
He was wined and speeched and honored
Everybody shook his hand
ย
But he was just a Pima Indian
He had no money, no home, no chance
In Arizona no one cared what Ira'd done
Just when did the Indians dance
So Ira started drinkin' hard
Jail was often his home
They'd let him raise the flag and lower it
Like you'd throw a dog a bone
Well, he died drunk early one mornin'
All alone in this land he fought to save
Two inches of water in a lonesome ditch
Was a grave for Ira Hayes
ย
Call him drunken Ira Hayes
He won't answer anymore
Not the whiskey drinkin' Indian
The Marine that went to war
ย
Yeah, call him drunken Ira Hayes
But his land is still as dry
And his ghost is lyin' thirsty
Inside the ditch, where Ira died
ย