Blood on the risers LYRICS (Gory gory what a helluva way to die)
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Published 2015-10-22
From: US Army
"Blood Upon the Risers" is an American paratrooper song from World War II. It is associated with all current airborne units, including the 101st Airborne Division, the 82nd 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. It is known as "Mancha Roja" (Spanish for "Red Stain") in airborne units from multiple Latin American countries. In Spain it is called "Sangre en las cuerdas" ("Blood upon the risers" in English).
This song has been featured in the television miniseries Band of Brothers, the television series Preacher, and the video game Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30, and was 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 a fatal training 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, but forgets to hook up his static line which would automatically deploy his main parachute; upon discovering this error during the jump, he 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 a bad falling position could easily lead to an accident, not unlike the one described in the song. "Risers" are the four straps that connect the suspension lines of the parachute canopy to the parachute harness.
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All Comments (21)
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Hi all, which songs you want featured next? leave them here in the comments! we can't wait for your suggestions.
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Red Army: Pridefully sing about their country and how they'll return home. Wehrmacht: Happily sing about their girlfriends and how nice their comrades are. US Army: Cheerfully sing about paratroopers falling to their death.
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"we are paratroopers son, we are supposed to be surrounded “ - cpt. Richard Winters
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"What happens if my reserve doesn't open, sergeant airborne?" "You'll have the rest of your life to figure it out."
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The fact that they made a song this happy about someone brutally plummeting to his death just illustrates what the life of a soldier is. No wonder people get PTSD.
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Russian Army songs: Come on comrades together we are strong British Army songs: Let's kick these Nazis back to Berlin US Army songs: Boy I sure do love dying
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Entire class sang this at graduation on the Airborne walk in front of families/friends. The looks on their faces......
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As a Navy vet I know all too well the amount of crushing boredom that must've precipitated the creation of this masterpiece
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The fifth verse always gets me. Falling to your death because of a failed parachute gives you a lot of time to think about your entire life, everything that's led up to that moment, and what will come after. My heart goes out to anyone who has gone through that, it's one helluva' way to die.
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[Actual conversation] Sergeant: We've got Infantry, Tank school, Paratroopers... Recruit 1: What's a paratrooper? Sergeant: You get paid to jump out of aeroplanes [No volunteers] Sergeant: But you get paid an extra $50 a month (double salary) [Several recruits slowly raise hands]
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I remember an Airborne Officer was asked how he could jump out of a perfectly good airplane. His answer was, its better than jumping out of one that's burning.
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her explaining that she's 6'6 and her bottom is the size of a king-sized pillowcase me:
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4:21 This lyric about him rolling round in his gore is probably the creepiest to me just because it puts the possibility if taken literally, the cadet survived long enough to react to his wounds and roll around in agony. Either that, or his body was being quite twitchy after his death. Either way, a bit of a unsettling lyric.
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kinda sadistic medics. "i'm bored" "HEY GUYS A PARACHUTE FAILED" "YAHOOOO!!! HELLUVA YEAH!"
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Imagine going skydiving with friends and someone in the back starts singing this song
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My father was 82nd airborne, was killed in Iraq 2006. Never heard this song all the way through before but almost teared up at the end. Insane goosebumps, thankful for our troops. 🤙🏾🇺🇸
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The Dark humor. The Stark reality of being a Paratrooper. One of the most sincere military songs out there.
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What if the chute won't open? "Just bring it back and we'll give you a new one."
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Tip: don’t listen to this on an airplane
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this is Perfect OST for HELLDIVER 2
