Blood on the Risers

"Blood Upon the Risers" is an American paratrooper song from World War II. It is associated with all airborne units, including the 82nd Airborne Division, the 101st Airborne Division, the 173rd Airborne Brigade and 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne) of the 25th Infantry Division, and the 120th CTS (United States) as well as British airborne units, also being known as "Mancha Roja" (Spanish for "Red Stain") in many airborne units from multiple Latin American countries. In Spain it is called "Sangre en las cuerdas" (Blood upon the risers in english).

The song is and was sung by troopers training to jump qualify as an act of comic camaraderie - by singing a somber sounding but comic song depicting their worst possible training outcome, members of the unit were able to not only hide their own fears, but use the fact that every one was equally working to hide theirs as a moment of bonding and genuine help in holding their courage, the song ending with the group assuring itself that if this did happen at least "You ain't gonna (as implied - have to, or gotta) jump no more."

This song has been featured on the television miniseries Band of Brothers and the video game Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30, and also mentioned in Donald Burgett's book Currahee!: A Screaming Eagle at Normandy. Sung to the tune of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic", the song tells of the final fatal jump of a rookie paratrooper whose parachute fails to deploy. This results in him falling to his death.

The song is also a cautionary tale on the dangers of improper preparation of a parachute jump. The protagonist does everything right except forgets to hook on his static line which would automatically deploy his main parachute, and he in panic deploys his reserve chute in bad falling position with disastrous results. As the reserve chute is stored in a belly bag on the World War II era rig, deploying it in bad falling position could easily lead in an accident not unlike the one described in the song. "Risers" are the four straps which connect the suspension lines of the parachute canopy to the parachute harness.

Lyrics

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,
"You ain't gonna jump no more!"
(CHORUS)
Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,
Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,
Gory, gory, what a hell of a 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 jumped into the icy blast, his static line unhooked,
And he ain't gonna jump no more.
(CHORUS)
Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,
Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,
Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,
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 reserves spilled out, and wrapped around his legs,
And he ain't gonna jump no more.
(CHORUS)
Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,
Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,
Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,
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; he hurtled to the ground.
And he ain't gonna jump no more.
(CHORUS)
Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,
Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,
Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,
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 medic corps, and wondered what they'd find,
And he ain't gonna jump no more.
(CHORUS)
Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,
Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,
Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,
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 last a 'Chute had failed,
And he ain't gonna jump no more.
(CHORUS)
Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,
Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,
Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,
He ain't gonna jump no more!
He hit the ground, the sound was "SPLAT", his blood went spurting high;
His comrades, they were heard to say "A hell of a way to die!"
He lay there, rolling 'round in the welter of his gore,
And he ain't gonna jump no more.
(CHORUS)
Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,
Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,
Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,
He ain't gonna jump no more!
(slowly, solemnly; about half the speed of the other verses)
There was blood upon the risers, there were brains upon the chute,
Intestines were a-dangling from his paratroopers suit,
He was a mess, they picked him up, and poured him from his boots,
And he ain't gonna jump no more.

(CHORUS)

Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,
Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,
Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die,
He ain't gonna jump no more!

Chorus confusion

It is disputed among veterans and historians as to whether the chorus says "Gory, Gory" or "Glory, Glory"1 like the original "Battle Hymn of the Republic".[1] Since the song is often sung at a shout, it is hard to distinguish whether there is in fact an "L" sound when it is sung. The original published version, however, clearly shows "gory" to be the word.(Valid Citation Needed)

Some versions of the song substitute the second line of the chorus for "with a rifle on his back as he's falling through the sky". The version taught at Fort Benning, GA in 1975 used "They picked him up still in his 'chute and poured him from his jump boots".

References

  1. ↑ http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/on-the-homefront/culture/music/the-battle-hymn-of-the-republic/the-battle-hymn-of-the.html

External links

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