Friday, January 1, 2016

Johnny Cash's "The Ballad of Ira Hayes"

An-other thing I noticed when I listened to a Johnny Cash album this morning is that in "The Ballad of Ira Hayes," there's a flute that plays "Taps."  The lyrics are about Ira Hayes who was a Native American and a Marine, and I think the inclusion of "Taps" - but on a flute - is meant to musically portray both of those things.  "Taps" is often played at military funerals, and it seems like the flute is meant to evoke Native American flutes (although I think it's actually a western concert flute in the recording).