GCCmaj7Am
Gather round me, people, and a story I will tell
DCCmaj7G
About a brave young Indian you should remember well
CCmaj7Am
From the tribe of Pima Indians, a proud and a peaceful band,
DCCmaj7G
They farmed the Phoenix valley in Arizona land.
GCCmaj7Am
Down their ditches for a thousand years the sparkling water rushed,
DCCmaj7G
Till the white man stole their water rights and the running water hushed.
CCmaj7Am
Now Ira's folks were hungry, and their farms grew crops of weeds.
DCCmaj7G
But when war came, he volunteered and forgot the white man's greed.
GG/F#G7/F
Call him drunken Ira Hayes
CCmaj7Am
He won't answer anymore,
D
Not the whiskey-drinking Indian
C/GG
Or the Marine who went to war.
GG/F#G7/F
Yes, call him drunken Ira Hayes
CCmaj7Am
He won't answer anymore,
D
Not the whiskey-drinking Indian
C/GG
Or the Marine who went to war.
GCCmaj7Am
They started up Iwo Jima hill, two hundred and fifty men,
DCCmaj7G
But only twenty-seven lived to walk back down that hill again.
GCCmaj7Am
And when the fight was over and Old Glory raised
DCCmaj7G
One of the men who held it high was the Indian, Ira Hayes.
GG/F#G7/F
Call him drunken Ira Hayes
CCmaj7Am
He won't answer anymore,
D
Not the whiskey-drinking Indian
C/GG
Or the Marine who went to war.
GG/F#G7/F
Yes, call him drunken Ira Hayes
CCmaj7Am
He won't answer anymore,
D
Not the whiskey-drinking Indian
C/GG
Or the Marine who went to war.
GCCmaj7Am
Now, Ira returned a hero, celebrated throughout the land
DCCmaj7G
He was wined and speeched and honored, everybody shook his hand.
GCCmaj7Am
But he was just a Pima Indian - no money, no crops, no chance -
DCCmaj7G
And at home nobody cared what Ira'd done, and when do the Indians dance?
GG/F#G7/F
Call him drunken Ira Hayes
CCmaj7Am
He won't answer anymore,
D
Not the whiskey-drinking Indian
C/GG
Or the Marine who went to war.
GG/F#G7/F
Yes, call him drunken Ira Hayes
CCmaj7Am
He won't answer anymore,
D
Not the whiskey-drinking Indian
C/GG
Or the Marine who went to war.
GCCmaj7Am
Then Ira started drinking hard, jail was often his home.
DCCmaj7G
They let him raise the flag there and lower it like you'd throw a dog a bone.
GCCmaj7Am
He died drunk early one morning, alone in the land he'd fought to save.
DCCmaj7G
Two inches of water in a lonely ditch was the grave for Ira Hayes.
GG/F#G7/F
Call him drunken Ira Hayes
CCmaj7Am
He won't answer anymore,
D
Not the whiskey-drinking Indian
C/GG
Or the Marine who went to war.
GG/F#G7/F
Yes, call him drunken Ira Hayes
CCmaj7Am
He won't answer anymore,
D
Not the whiskey-drinking Indian
C/GG
Or the Marine who went to war.
GCCmaj7Am
Yes, call him drunken Ira Hayes, but his land is still as dry,
DCCmaj7G
And his ghost is lying thirsty In the ditch where Ira died.
GG/F#G7/F
Call him drunken Ira Hayes
CCmaj7Am
He won't answer anymore,
D
Not the whiskey-drinking Indian
C/GG
Or the Marine who went to war.