Category: Quote

El abrazo de la serpiente (Embrace of the Serpent). Directed by Ciro Guerra. 2015.

"The Ballad of Ira Hayes" by Peter La Farge
 As sung by Townes Van Zandt from "A Gentle Evening with Townes Van Zandt'
  
Come gather round me people there's a story I'd like to tell
About a brave young Indian that you should remember well
From a tribe of Pima Indians, a proud and noble band
Who farmed the Phoenix valley down in Arizona land

Down the ditches for a ten-thousand years
The sparkling waters rushed  
'Till the white man stole the water rights
And all the runin' waters hushed

Now Ira's folks go hungry
And their farms grow crops of weeds
But when war came, Ira volunteered
And forgot the white man's greed

Call him drunken Ira Hayes
He won't answer anymore
Not the whiskey drinkin' Indian
    the Marine that went to war

There 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
Well, among the men who held her high
Was the Indian, Ira Hayes

Call him drunken Ira Hayes
He can't answer anymore
Not the whiskey drinkin' Indian
    the Marine that went to war

Well, Ira came back a hero
And was celebrated throughout the land
He was wined and speeched and honored
Everybody shook his hand

But he was just a Pima Indian
Had no money, no home, no chance
In Arizona no one cared what Ira'd done
Since when did the Indians dance

And so 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'
All alone in this land he fought to save
Two inches of water in a lonesome ditch
Was a grave for Ira Hayes

Call him drunken Ira Hayes
He won't answer anymore
Not the whiskey drinkin' Indian
    the Marine that went to war

Yeah, call him drunken Ira Hayes
But his land is still as dry
And his ghost is lyin' thirsty
Inside the ditch where Ira died 

Lyrics: The Greatest Adventure 
Composed and Performed by Glenn Yarbrough

The greatest adventure is what lies ahead.
Today and tomorrow are yet to be said.
The chances, the changes are all yours to make.
The mold of your life is in your hands to break.

The greatest adventure is there if you're bold.
Let go of the moment that life makes you hold.
To measure the meaning can make you delay;
It's time you stop thinkin' and wasting the day.

The man who's a dreamer and never takes leave
Who thinks of a world that is just make-believe
Will never know passion, will never know pain.
Who sits by the window will one day see rain.

The greatest adventure is what lies ahead.
Today and tomorrow are yet to be said.
The chances, the changes are all yours to make.
The mold of your life is in your hands to break.

The greatest adventure is what lies ahead.

Song: "The Last Unicorn"
By: America

When the last eagle flies over the last crumbling mountain
And the last lion roars at the last dusty fountain
In the shadow of the forest though she may be old and worn
They will stare unbelieving at the last unicorn

When the first breath of winter through the flowers is icing
And you look to the north and a pale moon is rising
And it seems like all is dying and would leave the world to mourn
In the distance hear the laughter of the last unicorn

I'm alive, I'm alive

When the last moon is cast over the last star of morning
And the future has passed without even a last desperate warning
Then look into the sky where through the clouds a path is torn
Look and see her how she sparkles, it's the last unicorn

I'm alive, I'm alive