Dylan (A Fool Such As I)

Title: The Ballad of Ira Hayes
Artist: Bob Dylan
Album: Dylan (A Fool Such As I) (Track #4)
Duration: 05:10
Label: Sony Music Entertainment

Gather round you people an' a story i will tell About a brave indian you should remember well From the tribe of Pima indians, a proud an' a peaceful band They farmed the Phoenix valley in Arizona land. Down their ditches for a thousand years the sparkling water rushed Till the white men stole their water rights an' the runnin' water hushed Now Ira's folks were hungry an' their farms were crops of weeds But when war came he volunteered and forgot the white man's greed. Call him drunken Ira Hayes he won't answer anymore Not the whisky drinkin' indian nor the marine who went to war Yes call him drunken Ira Hayes he won't answer anymore Not the whisky drinkin' indian nor the marine who went to war. They started Iwo Jima hill, two hundred an' fifty men But only twenty-seven lived to walk back down the hill again An' when the fight was over an' old glory raised One of the men who held it high was the indian Ira Hayes. Call him drunken Ira Hayes he won't answer anymore Not the whisky drinkin' indian nor the marine who went to war Yes call him drunken Ira Hayes he won't answer anymore Not the whisky drinkin' indian nor the marine who went to war. Now Ira returned a hero celebrated throughout the land He was wined an' speeched an' honored, everybody shook his hand But he was just a Pima indian, no money, no crops, no chance An' at home nobody cared what Ira's done an' the wind did the indian's dance. Call him drunken Ira Hayes he won't answer anymore Not the whisky drinkin' indian nor the marine who went to war Yes call him drunken Ira Hayes he won't answer anymore Not the whisky drinkin' indian nor the marine who went to war. And Ira started drinkin' again, jail was often his home They let him raise the flag and lower it like you throw a dog a bone He died drunk early one morning alone in a land he 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 whisky drinkin' indian nor the marine who went to war Yes call him drunken Ira Hayes he won't answer anymore Not the whisky drinkin' indian nor the marine who went to war. Yes call him drunken Ira Hayes but his land is still as dry And his ghost is lying thirsty in the ditch where Ira died Call him drunken Ira Hayes he won't answer anymore Not the whisky drinkin' indian nor the marine who went to war.