13_dylan/ballad_of_ira_hayes.htm

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   7 <title>The Ballad of Ira Hayes</title>
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  12
  13 <h1 class="songtitle">The Ballad of Ira Hayes</h1>
  14
  15
  16 <p>Peter LaFarge<br />
  17 Recorded by Bob Dylan June 1, 1970 and released by Columbia on
  18 <a class="recordlink" href="index.htm">Dylan</a> (1973)<br />
  19 Tabbed by Eyolf &Oslash;strem<br /> </p>
  20
  21 <p>[read the story of Ira Hayes at <a class="url" href="http://www.bobdylanroots.com/ira.html">http://www.bobdylanroots.com/ira.html</a>]</p>
  22
  23 <p>Dylan at the piano; the following is a suggestion for guitar.</p>
  24
  25 <p>Capo 1st fret (sounding key Ab major)</p>
  26
  27 <p>The Ds are usually embellished with D11 turns (i.e. C/d = xx0010)</p>
  28
  29 <hr />
  30
  31 <pre class="verse">
  32 G                              C     /b     Am
  33 Gather round me, people, and a story I will tell
  34 D                          G
  35 About a brave young Indian you should remember well
  36                                   C           /b       Am
  37 From the tribe of Pima Indians, a proud and a peaceful band,
  38      D                            G
  39 They farmed the Phoenix valley in Arizona land.
  40
  41 Down their ditches for a thousand years the sparkling water rushed,
  42 Till the white man stole their water rights and the running water hushed.
  43 Now Ira's folks were hungry, and their farms grew crops of weeds.
  44 But when war came, he volunteered and forgot the white man's greed.
  45 </pre>
  46
  47 <pre class="refrain">
  48          G       /f# G7/f
  49 Call him drunken Ira Hayes
  50          C      /b Am
  51 He won't answer anymore,
  52         D
  53 Not the whiskey-drinking Indian
  54        C/g                G
  55 Or the Marine who went to war.
  56               G       /f# G7/f
  57 Yes, call him drunken Ira Hayes
  58          C      /b Am
  59 He won't answer anymore,
  60         D
  61 Not the whiskey-drinking Indian
  62        C/g                G
  63 Or the Marine who went to war.
  64 </pre>
  65
  66 <pre class="verse">
  67 They started up Iwo Jima hill, two hundred and fifty men,
  68 But only twenty-seven lived to walk back down that hill again.
  69 And when the fight was over and Old Glory raised
  70 One of the men who held it high was the Indian, Ira Hayes.
  71 </pre>
  72
  73 <pre class="refrain">
  74 Call him drunken Ira Hayes
  75 He won't answer anymore,
  76 Not the whiskey-drinking Indian
  77 Or the Marine who went to war.
  78 Call him drunken Ira Hayes
  79 He won't answer anymore,
  80 Not the whiskey-drinking Indian
  81 Or the Marine who went to war.
  82 </pre>
  83
  84 <pre class="verse">
  85 Now, Ira returned a hero, celebrated throughout the land
  86 He was wined and speeched and honored, everybody shook his hand.
  87 But he was just a Pima Indian - no money, no crops, no chance -
  88 And at home nobody cared what Ira'd done, and when do the Indians dance?
  89 </pre>
  90
  91 <pre class="refrain">
  92 Call him drunken Ira Hayes
  93 He won't answer anymore,
  94 Not the whiskey-drinking Indian
  95 Or the Marine who went to war.
  96 Call him drunken Ira Hayes
  97 He won't answer anymore,
  98 Not the whiskey-drinking Indian
  99 Or the Marine who went to war.
 100 </pre>
 101
 102 <pre class="verse">
 103 Then Ira started drinking hard, jail was often his home.
 104 They let him raise the flag there and lower it like you'd throw a dog a bone.
 105 He died drunk early one morning, alone in the land he'd fought to save.
 106 Two inches of water in a lonely ditch was the grave for Ira Hayes.
 107 </pre>
 108
 109 <pre class="refrain">
 110 Call him drunken Ira Hayes
 111 He won't answer anymore,
 112 Not the whiskey-drinking Indian
 113 Or the Marine who went to war.
 114 Call him drunken Ira Hayes
 115 He won't answer anymore,
 116 Not the whiskey-drinking Indian
 117 Or the Marine who went to war.
 118 </pre>
 119
 120 <pre class="verse">
 121 Yes, call him drunken Ira Hayes, but his land is still as dry,
 122 And his ghost is lying thirsty In the ditch where Ira died.
 123 </pre>
 124
 125 <pre class="refrain">
 126 Call him drunken Ira Hayes
 127 He won't answer anymore,
 128 Not the whiskey-drinking Indian
 129 Or the Marine who went to war.
 130 </pre>
 131 </body></html>