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  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    This debut solo double album features one album of ten original songs and another album, comprising ten covers of Bruce's favourite folk songs.

    Includes unlimited streaming of The Word is the Music the People are the Song via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 5 days

      $70 AUD or more 

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    A double CD with one CD of original songs and one CD of Bruce's interpretation of the folk songs which inspired him in his youth.

    Includes unlimited streaming of The Word is the Music the People are the Song via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 5 days

      $40 AUD or more 

     

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $1 AUD  or more

     

  • Buy the Full Digital Album

about

Written by the First Nations American singer song-writer, Peter la Farge. It tells the tragic true story of the WWII hero, Ira Hayes, from the First Nations Pima tribe.

lyrics

Call him drunken Ira Hayes, He won't answer anymore
Not the whiskey drinkin' Indian ,Nor the Marine that went to war
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 Indian, A proud and noble band
Who farmed the Phoenix valley in Arizona land
Down the ditches for a thousand years, The water grew Ira's peoples' crops
'Till the white man stole the water rights And the sparklin' water stopped
Now Ira's folks were hungry And their land grew crops of weeds
When war came, he volunteered And forgot the white man's greed
CHORUS:

They battled up Iwo Jima's hill, Two hundred and fifty men
But only twenty-seven lived, to walk back down again
And when the fight was over, And when Old Glory raised
Among the men who held it high, Was the Indian, Ira Hayes
CHORUS
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'd done And when did the Indians dance
CHORUS:
Ira started drinkin' hard; Jail was often his home
They'd let him raise the flag and lower it, like you'd throw a dog a bone!
He died drunk early one mornin' , Alone in the land he fought to save
Two inches of water in a lonely ditch, Was a grave for Ira Hayes
CHORUS:
Yeah, call him drunken Ira Hayes, But his land is just as dry
And his ghost is lyin' thirsty, In the ditch where Ira died

credits

from The Word is the Music the People are the Song, released February 26, 2021
Words and music by Peter la Farge

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all rights reserved

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about

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Bruce Hearn Melbourne, Australia

Bruce Hearn has fronted the iconic Melbourne ska band, Strange Tenants, since 1981, with a back catalogue of 8 albums.
At heart however, he is a masterful singer/song writer, guitarist, banjo and harmonica player, and 2020 sees him releasing not one, but 2 double albums of original and iconic folk songs. His motto has always been 'if you don't stand for something, you stand for nothing'! ... more

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