Digital Tradition Mirror

Blood on the Risers (Gory, Gory)

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Pennywhistle notation and Dulcimer tab for this song is also available

Blood on the Risers (Gory, Gory)

He was just a rookie trooper, and he surely shook with fright
As he checked all his equipment, and made sure his pack was tight
He had to sit and listen to those awful engines roar,
"You ain't gonna jump no more!"

cho: Gory, Gory, what a helluva way to die,
     Gory, Gory, what a helluva way to die,
     Gory, Gory, what a helluva way to die,
     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 leaped into the blast, his static line unhooked,
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 clouds, he felt the awful drop,
He jerked his cord, the silk spilled out and wrapped around his legs.
He ain't gonna jump no more!

The risers wrapped around his neck, connectors cracked his dome
The lines were snarled and tied in knots, around his skinny bones,
The canopy became his shroud, he hurtled to the ground,
He ain't gonna jump no more!

The days he's 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 medics and wondered what they'd find,
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,
They rolled their sleeves and smiled
For it had been a week or more since the last chute had failed
He ain't gonna jump no more !

He hit the ground, the sound was "SPLAT," the 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.
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's boots,
They picked him up still in his Chute and poured him from his boots
He ain't gonna jump no more!

VH
oct99

Thanks to Mudcat for the Digital Tradition!