Today’s a Good Day to Die

By James Hyland

 

Screams, shots ringing out from the south

I grab my henry rifle and my best mount

Got 17 shells to stop this route

too late, found my family with their chests blown out

 

A rifle in my hand, my heart’s feeling bad

Now you greedy men have taken everything I had

Why are you here? Why’d you come around?

Your second mistake was letting your feet hit the ground

 

Gonna blind em, set fire to the ground

Buy a little time, let our men gather round

Gonna push em to the river, then take their left flank,

We’ll kill em all when they retreat cross the bank

 

Gonna shoot, shoot, gonna chase em up the hill

Look at their legs shake cause they know we’re about to kill

Every last man underneath this sky

Follow me men, today’s a good day to die

 

Is that all they got, there’s gotta be more

You don’t bring such men when you wanna make war

Word’s coming in there’re more soldiers coming around

I’ll head north while ya keep em pinned down

 

I see flags rising over the hill

Coming from the east, coming in for the kill

So we grew from the ground, stopped em in their tracks

Their leader got shot and they all turned back

 

It’s really on now, riding through their lines

Counting coup, and I’m protected by the signs

Diggin my heels into the side of this bay

Chasing men down as they try and run away

 

In my mouth got an eagle bone whistle

And in both hands screaming Colt Walker pistols

Today The Great Spirit rides in the sky

follow me men, today’s a good day to die

 

I got bad news for Long Hair’s troops

The high ground isn’t gonna help this group

They’re surrounded, nowhere to run

Soldiers were killing themselves with their guns

 

Thousands of arrows we’d rain from the sky

Behind a dead horse there was no place to hide

Some broke out, and when they try and run

We cut down every single one

 

That day we met the bravest man we ever fought

He rode a 4 white legged horse and couldn’t be caught

And just when it looked like he’d see another day

He took his own gun, took his life away

 

They were down to their last man

standing with an empty pistol in his hand

There were tears but no fear in his eyes

My sword went up, today’s a good day to die