The Ballad Of Ira Hayes original guitar chords by
Johnny Cash

1964Country342 views

Key: A major

Intro 1

A

A

View detailed A chord diagram in our app.

Ira Hayes

D

D

View detailed D chord diagram in our app.

Ira Hayes

Chorus 1

A

A

View detailed A chord diagram in our app.

Call him drunken Ira Hayes

D

D

View detailed D chord diagram in our app.

He won't answer anymore

E7

E7

View detailed E7 chord diagram in our app.

Not the whiskey drinking Indian

A

A

View detailed A chord diagram in our app.

Nor the Marine that went to war

Verse 1
A A 
View detailed A  chord diagram in our app.
Open in app
Gather round me people
D D 
View detailed D  chord diagram in our app.
Open in app
there's a story I would tell
E E 
View detailed E  chord diagram in our app.
Open in app
About a brave young Indian
A A 
View detailed A  chord diagram in our app.
Open in app
you should remember well
From the land of the Pima Indian
D D 
View detailed D  chord diagram in our app.
Open in app
A proud and noble band
E E 
View detailed E  chord diagram in our app.
Open in app
Who farmed the Phoenix valley
A A 
View detailed A  chord diagram in our app.
Open in app
in Arizona land
Down the ditches for a thousand years
D D 
View detailed D  chord diagram in our app.
Open in app
The water grew Ira's peoples' crops
E E 
View detailed E  chord diagram in our app.
Open in app
Until the white man stole the water rights
A A 
View detailed A  chord diagram in our app.
Open in app
And the sparkling water stopped
Now Ira's folks were hungry
D D 
View detailed D  chord diagram in our app.
Open in app
And their land grew crops of weeds
E E 
View detailed E  chord diagram in our app.
Open in app
When war came, Ira volunteered
A A 
View detailed A  chord diagram in our app.
Open in app
And forgot the white man's greed

Chorus 2

A

A

View detailed A chord diagram in our app.

Call him drunken Ira Hayes

D

D

View detailed D chord diagram in our app.

He won't answer anymore

E7

E7

View detailed E7 chord diagram in our app.

Not the whiskey drinking Indian

A

A

View detailed A chord diagram in our app.

Nor the Marine that went to war

Verse 2
A A 
View detailed A  chord diagram in our app.
Open in app
There they battled up Iwo Jima's hill
D D 
View detailed D  chord diagram in our app.
Open in app
Two hundred and fifty men
E E 
View detailed E  chord diagram in our app.
Open in app
But only twenty-seven lived
A A 
View detailed A  chord diagram in our app.
Open in app
to walk back down again
And when the fight was over
D D 
View detailed D  chord diagram in our app.
Open in app
And Old Glory raised
E E 
View detailed E  chord diagram in our app.
Open in app
Among the men who held it high
A A 
View detailed A  chord diagram in our app.
Open in app
Was the Indian, Ira Hayes
A A 
View detailed A  chord diagram in our app.
Open in app
E E 
View detailed E  chord diagram in our app.
Open in app
A A 
View detailed A  chord diagram in our app.
Open in app

Chorus 3

A

A

View detailed A chord diagram in our app.

Call him drunken Ira Hayes

D

D

View detailed D chord diagram in our app.

He won't answer anymore

E7

E7

View detailed E7 chord diagram in our app.

Not the whiskey drinking Indian

A

A

View detailed A chord diagram in our app.

Nor the Marine that went to war

Verse 3
A A 
View detailed A  chord diagram in our app.
Open in app
Ira Hayes returned a hero
D D 
View detailed D  chord diagram in our app.
Open in app
Celebrated through the land
E E 
View detailed E  chord diagram in our app.
Open in app
He was wined and speeched and honored
A A 
View detailed A  chord diagram in our app.
Open in app
Everybody shook his hand
But he was just a Pima Indian
D D 
View detailed D  chord diagram in our app.
Open in app
No water, no home, no chance
E E 
View detailed E  chord diagram in our app.
Open in app
At home nobody cared what Ira'd done
A A 
View detailed A  chord diagram in our app.
Open in app
And when did the Indians dance?

Chorus 4

A

A

View detailed A chord diagram in our app.

Call him drunken Ira Hayes

D

D

View detailed D chord diagram in our app.

He won't answer anymore

E7

E7

View detailed E7 chord diagram in our app.

Not the whiskey drinking Indian

A

A

View detailed A chord diagram in our app.

Nor the Marine that went to war

Verse 4
A A 
View detailed A  chord diagram in our app.
Open in app
Then Ira started drinking hard
D D 
View detailed D  chord diagram in our app.
Open in app
Jail was often his home
E E 
View detailed E  chord diagram in our app.
Open in app
They'd let him raise the flag and lower it
A A 
View detailed A  chord diagram in our app.
Open in app
Like you'd throw a dog a bone!
He died drunk early one morning
D D 
View detailed D  chord diagram in our app.
Open in app
Alone in the land he fought to save
E E 
View detailed E  chord diagram in our app.
Open in app
Two inches of water in a lonely ditch
A A 
View detailed A  chord diagram in our app.
Open in app
Was a grave for Ira Hayes

Chorus 5

A

A

View detailed A chord diagram in our app.

Call him drunken Ira Hayes

D

D

View detailed D chord diagram in our app.

He won't answer anymore

E7

E7

View detailed E7 chord diagram in our app.

Not the whiskey drinking Indian

A

A

View detailed A chord diagram in our app.

Nor the Marine that went to war

Outro 1
A A 
View detailed A  chord diagram in our app.
Open in app
Yeah, call him drunken Ira Hayes
D D 
View detailed D  chord diagram in our app.
Open in app
But his land is just as dry
E E 
View detailed E  chord diagram in our app.
Open in app
And his ghost is lying thirsty
A A 
View detailed A  chord diagram in our app.
Open in app
In the ditch where Ira died
A A 
View detailed A  chord diagram in our app.
Open in app
E E 
View detailed E  chord diagram in our app.
Open in app
A A 
View detailed A  chord diagram in our app.
Open in app

How did you like the song?

5.0 (1)

You need to to leave a rating.

TunerE A D G B E

ChordsA D E7 E

A
D
E7
E
Open in app

Capo: No capo

Transpose: 0

0

Chords

A
D
E7
E
Open in app

Capo: No capo

Transpose: 0

0

More songs by Johnny Cash

Discover chords for more songs to play

Girl From The North Country

Folsom Prison Blues

Ring Of Fire

Daddy Sang Bass

I Walk The Line

Hurt

Wayfaring Stranger

Related songs

Discover chords for more songs to play

Girl From The North Country

Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash

Take Me Home, Country Roads

John Denver

The House Of The Rising Sun

The Animals

Creep

Radiohead

Sweet Home Alabama

Lynyrd Skynyrd

Ring Of Fire

Johnny Cash

Zombie

The Cranberries

Popular chords globally

Most played chords & tabs across all users

1

Perfect

Ed Sheeran

2

Creep

Radiohead

3

Yellow

Coldplay

4

Boulevard Of Broken Dreams

Green Day

5

Zombie

The Cranberries

6

Wonderwall

Oasis

7

Knockin' On Heaven's Door

Bob Dylan

Recently added

Recently added chords & tabs

¿Por qué?

Kevin Kaarl

Baby Blue

Kevin Kaarl

Dos almas

Kevin Kaarl

Quédate

Kevin Kaarl

Tú sí eres real

Kevin Kaarl

Toda esta ciudad

Kevin Kaarl

Tu canción

Kevin Kaarl