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CALL HIM DRUNKEN IRA HAYES, HE WON'T ANSWER ANY MORE; NOT THE WHISKEY DRINKIN' INDIAN, NOT THE MARINE WHO WENT TO WAR. [verse 1]: GATHER 'ROUND ME PEOPLE, THERE'S A STORY I WOULD TELL ABOUT 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. [verse 2]: DOWN THEIR DITCHES FOR A THOUSAND YEARS - THE WATERS GREW IRA'S PEOPLE'S CROPS, TILL THE WHITE MAN STOLE THEIR WATER RIGHTS - AND THEIR SPARKLIN' 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. [Chorus]: CALL HIM DRUNKEN IRA HAYES, HE WON'T ANSWER ANY MORE; NOT THE WHISKEY DRINKIN' INDIAN, NOT THE MARINE WHO WENT TO WAR. [verse 3]: WELL, THEY BATTLE UP IWO JIMA HILL - TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY MEN, BUT ONLY TWENTY SEVEN LIVED TO WALK BACK DOWN AGAIN; WHEN THE FIGHT WAS OVER - AND OLD GLORY RAISED, AMONG THE MEN WHO HELD IT HIGH WAS INDIAN IRA HAYES. [Chorus]: CALL HIM DRUNKEN IRA HAYES, HE WON'T ANSWER ANY MORE; NOT THE WHISKEY DRINKIN' INDIAN, NOT THE MARINE WHO WENT TO WAR. [verse 4]: 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 HAD DONE - AND WHEN DO THE INDIANS DANCE? [Chorus]: CALL HIM DRUNKEN IRA HAYES, HE WON'T ANSWER ANY MORE; NOT THE WHISKEY DRINKIN' INDIAN, NOT THE MARINE WHO WENT TO WAR. [verse 5]: THEN IRA STARTED DRINKIN' HARD, JAIL WAS OFTEN HIS HOME; THEY LET HIM RAISE THE FLAG AND LOWER IT, AS 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. [Chorus]: CALL HIM DRUNKEN IRA HAYES, HE WON'T ANSWER ANY MORE; NOT THE WHISKEY DRINKIN' INDIAN, NOT THE MARINE WHO WENT TO WAR. [verse 6]: YEAH! CALL HIM DRUNKEN IRA HAYES, BUT HIS LAND IS JUST AS DRY, AND THE GHOST IS LYING THIRSTY IN THE DITCH WHERE IRA DIED. |