The Ballad of Ira Hayes

"The Ballad of Ira Hayes" was written by folk singer Peter La Farge. It tells the story of Ira Hayes, one of the five Marines and one Navy Corpsman who became famous for having raised the flag on Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima of World War II. Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time.

Recordings

The song has been recorded many times. The most popular version is by Johnny Cash and reached number three on the Billboard Country Singles chart in 1964. Patrick Sky covered it on his self-titled 1965 debut album (and later for a 1985 album). Hamilton Camp included the song on his 1969 album, Welcome to Hamilton Camp.

Pete Seeger covered the song on his 1963 Album Broadside Ballads Volume 2.

Smiley Bates covered the song on his 1971 album Songs of Life.

Bob Dylan followed suit by covering the song during his sessions for Self Portrait, though his version did not see release until Columbia used it as part of the Dylan album of 1973.

Townes Van Zandt covered this song during a rare television appearance, and at The Whole Coffeehouse, University of Minnesota Campus, November 9, 1973. Kinky Friedman did a cover of the song on his 1976 record Lasso from El Paso.