Blood On The Risers
[tune of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic"]
GORY, GORY, what a helluva way to die.
GORY, GORY, what a helluva way to die.
GORY, GORY, what a helluva way to die.
And he ain't gonna jump no more!
He was just a rookie trooper,
And he surely shook with fright.
He checked all his equipment,
And made sure his pack was tight.
He had to sit and listen
To those awful engines roar,
And he ain't gonna jump no more!
GORY, GORY, what a helluva way to die.
GORY, GORY, what a helluva way to die.
GORY, GORY, what a helluva way to die.
And he ain't gonna jump no more!
"Is everybody happy?",
Cried the Sergeant looking up.
Our hero feebly answered "Yes",
And then they stood him up;
He jumped into the icy blasts,
His static line unhooked,
And he ain't gonna jump no more!
GORY, GORY, what a helluva way to die.
GORY, GORY, what a helluva way to die.
GORY, GORY, what a helluva way to die.
And he ain't gonna jump no more!
He counted long, he counted loud,
He waited for the shock.
He felt the wind, he felt the cold,
He felt the awful drop.
The silk from his reserve spilled out
And wrapped around his legs,
And he ain't gonna jump no more!
GORY, GORY, what a helluva way to die.
GORY, GORY, what a helluva way to die.
GORY, GORY, what a helluva way to die.
And he ain't gonna jump no more!
The risers swung around his neck,
Connectors cracked his dome.
Suspension lines were tied in knots
Around his skinny bones:
The canopy became his shroud
As he hurtled to the ground,
And he ain't gonna jump no more!
GORY, GORY, what a helluva way to die.
GORY, GORY, what a helluva way to die.
GORY, GORY, what a helluva way to die.
And he ain't gonna jump no more!
The days he'd lived and loved and laughed
Kept running through his mind.
He thought about the girl back home,
The one he'd left behind.
He thought about the medicos,
and wondered what they'd find,
And he ain't gonna jump no more!
GORY, GORY, what a helluva way to die.
GORY, GORY, what a helluva way to die.
GORY, GORY, what a helluva way to die.
And he ain't gonna jump no more!
The ambulance was on the spot,
The Jeeps were running wild.
The medics jumped and screamed with glee,
Rolled up their sleeves, and smiled.
For it had been a week or more
Since last a 'chute had failed,
And he ain't gonna jump no more!
GORY, GORY, what a helluva way to die.
GORY, GORY, what a helluva way to die.
GORY, GORY, what a helluva way to die.
And he ain't gonna jump no more!
He hit the ground,
The sound was "SPLAT",
His blood went spurting high.
His comrades then were heard to say:
"A helluva way to die."
He lay there rolling 'round
In the welter of his gore,
And he ain't gonna jump no more!
GORY, GORY, what a helluva way to die.
GORY, GORY, what a helluva way to die.
GORY, GORY, what a helluva way to die.
And he ain't gonna jump no more!
There was blood upon the risers,
There were brains upon the 'chute.
Intestines were a'dangling
From his paratrooper suit.
He was a mess. They tipped him up,
And poured him from his boots,
And he ain't gonna jump no more!
GORY, GORY, what a helluva way to die.
GORY, GORY, what a helluva way to die.
GORY, GORY, what a helluva way to die.
And he ain't gonna jump no more!
Our paratrooper's song is done.
His jumping days are through.
Propeller blast has died away.
He's qualified for true.
He slipped from a 'chute of white,
Into one of red, white, and blue.
And he ain't gonna jump no more!
GORY, GORY, what a helluva way to die.
GORY, GORY, what a helluva way to die.
GORY, GORY, what a helluva way to die.
And he ain't gonna jump no more!
They say he went to Heaven,
Upon arriving there, I'm told,
He was given a pair of silver wings,
And a parachute of gold.
He may be happy there,
But me, I'll stay down here,
'Cause he ain't gonna jump ever more!
GORY, GORY, what a helluva way to die.
GORY, GORY, what a helluva way to die.
GORY, GORY, what a helluva way to die.
And he ain't gonna jump no more!
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