G C Cmaj7 Am
Gather round me, people, and a story I will tell
D C Cmaj7 G
About a brave young Indian you should remember well
C Cmaj7 Am
From the tribe of Pima Indians, a proud and a peaceful band,
D C Cmaj7 G
They farmed the Phoenix valley in Arizona land.
G C Cmaj7 Am
Down their ditches for a thousand years the sparkling water rushed,
D C Cmaj7 G
Till the white man stole their water rights and the running water hushed.
C Cmaj7 Am
Now Ira's folks were hungry, and their farms grew crops of weeds.
D C Cmaj7 G
But when war came, he volunteered and forgot the white man's greed.
G G/F# G7/F
Call him drunken Ira Hayes
C Cmaj7 Am
He won't answer anymore,
D
Not the whiskey-drinking Indian
C/G G
Or the Marine who went to war.
G G/F# G7/F
Yes, call him drunken Ira Hayes
C Cmaj7 Am
He won't answer anymore,
D
Not the whiskey-drinking Indian
C/G G
Or the Marine who went to war.
G C Cmaj7 Am
They started up Iwo Jima hill, two hundred and fifty men,
D C Cmaj7 G
But only twenty-seven lived to walk back down that hill again.
G C Cmaj7 Am
And when the fight was over and Old Glory raised
D C Cmaj7 G
One of the men who held it high was the Indian, Ira Hayes.
G G/F# G7/F
Call him drunken Ira Hayes
C Cmaj7 Am
He won't answer anymore,
D
Not the whiskey-drinking Indian
C/G G
Or the Marine who went to war.
G G/F# G7/F
Yes, call him drunken Ira Hayes
C Cmaj7 Am
He won't answer anymore,
D
Not the whiskey-drinking Indian
C/G G
Or the Marine who went to war.
G C Cmaj7 Am
Now, Ira returned a hero, celebrated throughout the land
D C Cmaj7 G
He was wined and speeched and honored, everybody shook his hand.
G C Cmaj7 Am
But he was just a Pima Indian - no money, no crops, no chance -
D C Cmaj7 G
And at home nobody cared what Ira'd done, and when do the Indians dance?
G G/F# G7/F
Call him drunken Ira Hayes
C Cmaj7 Am
He won't answer anymore,
D
Not the whiskey-drinking Indian
C/G G
Or the Marine who went to war.
G G/F# G7/F
Yes, call him drunken Ira Hayes
C Cmaj7 Am
He won't answer anymore,
D
Not the whiskey-drinking Indian
C/G G
Or the Marine who went to war.
G C Cmaj7 Am
Then Ira started drinking hard, jail was often his home.
D C Cmaj7 G
They let him raise the flag there and lower it like you'd throw a dog a bone.
G C Cmaj7 Am
He died drunk early one morning, alone in the land he'd fought to save.
D C Cmaj7 G
Two inches of water in a lonely ditch was the grave for Ira Hayes.
G G/F# G7/F
Call him drunken Ira Hayes
C Cmaj7 Am
He won't answer anymore,
D
Not the whiskey-drinking Indian
C/G G
Or the Marine who went to war.
G G/F# G7/F
Yes, call him drunken Ira Hayes
C Cmaj7 Am
He won't answer anymore,
D
Not the whiskey-drinking Indian
C/G G
Or the Marine who went to war.
G C Cmaj7 Am
Yes, call him drunken Ira Hayes, but his land is still as dry,
D C Cmaj7 G
And his ghost is lying thirsty In the ditch where Ira died.
G G/F# G7/F
Call him drunken Ira Hayes
C Cmaj7 Am
He won't answer anymore,
D
Not the whiskey-drinking Indian
C/G G
Or the Marine who went to war.
The Ballad Of Ira Hayes chords
by Bob Dylan
The chords of The Ballad Of Ira Hayes by Bob Dylan are G, C, Cmaj7, Am, D, G/F#, G7/F, C/G. The level of this song is 4 out of 5, so advanced.