peter lafarge
I leave you a link here, instead of summing up this human tragedy: IRA HAYES.
Peter LaFarge, himself of indian origin, died in '64 - only a few years after he wrote this song. It's been made famous by Buffy Saint-Marie, Bob Dylan and especially by Johnny Cash - who recorded several of LaFarge's songs when he cut the album "Bitter Tears" in 1964. Johnny himself pondered about having cherokee ancestors, but sorry Johnny: your origin was european, mainly irish. But You stood up against the prejudice the native americans have faced ever since Mayflower.
According to Washington Post, a page on the Defense Department’s website about the Battle of Iwo Jima and equivalent sites have been condemned and erased from May 2025 by president Donald Trump. The purpose is a wide-ranging crackdown on what he says is “diversity, equity and inclusion” efforts in the federal government. Read between the lines: only white people of male gender, preferably with pink carnation, freckles and red hair can be heroes ...
Well, here we go. Play the "Heroes Salute" to start and end with, and take your bloody caps off.
gather round me people • there's a story I would tell
bout a brave young Indian you should remember well
from the land of the Pima indians • a proud and noble band
who farmed the Phoenix Valley in Arizona land
down their ditches for a thousand years the waters grew Ira's people's crops
till the white man stole their water right and their sparkling water stopped
now Ira's folks grew hungry and their land grew crops of weeds
when war came Ira volunteered and forgot the white man's greed
well they battled up Iwo Jima Hill • two hundred and fifty men
but only 27 lived to walk back down again
and when the fight was over and old glory raised
among the men who helt it high was the indian Ira Hayes
Ira Hayes 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 home no chance
at home nobody cared what Ira's done and when did the indians dance
then Ira started drinking hard • jail was often his home
they let him raise the flag and lower it like you would throw a dog a bone
he died drunk early one morning alone in the land he'd fought to save
two inches of water in a lonely ditch was the grave for Ira Hayes
call him drunken Ira Hayes he won't answer anymore
not the whiskey drinking Indian nor the marine that went to war
yeah call him drunken Ira Hayes but his land is just as dry
and his ghost is laying thirsty in the ditch where Ira died
For the following CHORD section, fullscreen/horizontal mobile is recommended.
Chords in brackets may be omitted.
G G7 C gather round me people there's a story I would tell D7 G bout a brave young Indian you should remember well G G7 C from the land of the Pima indians a proud and noble band G G/F# Em A7 D7 G who farmed the Phoenix Valley in Arizona land G G7 C call him drunken Ira Hayes he won't answer anymore D7 G not the whiskey drinking Indian nor the marine that went to war
