"Blood Upon the Risers" is an American

Culture of the United States

The Culture of the United States is a Western culture originally influenced by European cultures. It has been developing since long before the United States became a country with its own unique social and cultural characteristics such as dialect, music, arts, social habits, cuisine, and folklore...

 paratrooper

Paratrooper

Paratroopers are soldiers trained in parachuting and generally operate as part of an airborne force.Paratroopers are used for tactical advantage as they can be inserted into the battlefield from the air, thereby allowing them to be positioned in areas not accessible by land...

 song from World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. It is sung by the United States 82nd Airborne Division, the United States 101st Airborne Division, the 173rd Airborne Brigade and 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne) of the 25th Infantry Division, and the 120th CTS (United States). This song has been featured on the television miniseries Band of Brothers and the video game Brothers in Arms

Brothers In Arms: Road to Hill 30

Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 is a first-person shooter video game created by Gearbox Software for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox and Mac OS X. It is the first game in the Brothers in Arms series. It is published by Ubisoft and was released in early 2005...

. Sung to the tune of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic

The Battle Hymn of the Republic

"The Battle Hymn of the Republic" is a hymn by American writer Julia Ward Howe using the music from the song "John Brown's Body". Howe's more famous lyrics were written in November 1861 and first published in The Atlantic Monthly in February 1862. It became popular during the American Civil War...

", the song tells of the final jump of a paratrooper whose parachute

Parachute

A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag, or in the case of ram-air parachutes, aerodynamic lift. Parachutes are usually made out of light, strong cloth, originally silk, now most commonly nylon...

 does not work. This results in him falling to his death.

Members of the United States military who attend the United States Army Airborne School

United States Army Airborne School

The United States Army Airborne School — widely known as Jump School — conducts the basic paratrooper training for the United States armed forces. It is operated by the 1st Battalion , 507th Infantry, United States Army Infantry School, Fort Benning, Georgia...

 at Fort Benning

Fort Benning

Fort Benning is a United States Army post located southeast of the city of Columbus in Muscogee and Chattahoochee counties in Georgia and Russell County, Alabama...

, Georgia

Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

are sometimes required to memorize the lyrics as part of their training.

Lyrics

Chorus Confusion

It is disputed as to whether the chorus says "Gory, Gory" or "Glory, Glory" like the original "Battle Hymn of The Republic". 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. Most likely, however, it should be "Gory" due to the relation the word has with the rest of the song (being about a paratrooper falling to earth due to two faulty chutes).
----

He was just a rookie trooper and he surely shook with fright,

He checked off 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)

Glory, glory, what a hell of a way to die,

Glory, glory, what a hell of a way to die,

Glory, glory, 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)

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 reserve spilled out and wrapped around his legs,

And he ain't gonna jump no more.

(CHORUS)

The risers wrapped 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)

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 medics, and wondered what they'd find,

And he ain't gonna jump no more.

(CHORUS)

The ambulance was on the spot, the jeeps were running wild,

The medics jumped and screamed with glee, rolled up 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)

He hit the ground, the sound was "SPLAT" his blood went spurting high,

His comrades were all 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)

(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 Paratrooper suit,

He was a mess, they picked him up and poured him from his boots,

And he ain't gonna jump no more

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,

And he ain't gonna jump no more!

External links

• Blood on the Risers
• Men of Easy Company's official lyrics