Legend Lyrics

He did dominate the field. So that's the way the darn thing was

And he can do everything everyone or anybody else can do

But he can do it better. And we saw him just without the

Slightest form just put the football on his foot and kick it about

Sixty yards a punt with no trouble at all. We were standing

Back there looked like from seventy-five yards. He just boomed

The ball. It wasn't spiraling or anything just boomed down

There. That's all there was to it. And he could throw the ball

He could run. He could tackle. He could do anything

The Titanic just sunk, Wilson beat

Roosevelt for the Presidency that month

Jim beat Dwight Eisenhower on the field

The West Point Army kids came and got killed

Twenty-seven, six, showed 'em that native real

The future president even said he's that deal

Football was war without death

It was the colonizers sons that the Indians played against

Jim hyped his teammates with this

No wonder why the score they tallied up on them privileged white kids

Jim Thorpe the college ballroom dancing champion

Straight faced prankster but you still could get a laugh out him

Superior athletically in his era being

Native in a white mans world his only error

Even though the IOC thieved him of his gold

His legacy is golden his memory's being told

Plus his stardom only started at the time

Crazy offers sought to blow his bottom line just off his shine

Fifty racks to be a boxer in his bar brawls

Opponents got punch drunk flimsy doing the bar crawl

He chose baseball playing in the major leagues

For the New York Giants as the highest paid rookie

Ever, enabled him to marry wifey Iva

Never got wealthy but he got to be a thriver

I thought he was a hell of a ball player. He could hit a

Ball as far as anybody. He could run as good as anybody

He was one of the fastest men I ever saw running the

Bases. He was fast! The man was a great athlete! He

Could do anything! He could run as good as anybody

He could hit a ball as far as anybody. And he could field

He was a good fielder. He had a good arm

Iva was the prettiest girl at Carlisle

Their marriage saw the birth of four kids and argyle

Bought a home together out in Yale, Oklahoma

She called her baby snooks, together they were roamers

The Giants Manager had made some racial comments

Jim roughed him up he wasn't one for the nonsense

Took his talents to the home of the Hall of Fame

Canton Bulldogs winning chips popping champagne

First team All-Pro in the predecessor

To the NFL where his role was presidential

Legitimized and brought life to the new sport

Professionalized on the back of goat Jim Thorpe

The Spanish Flu took his first born Jim Jr

No doubt his baby boy fought it hard like a trooper

Gone too soon like our land to the Sooners

It hit their marriage hard and put a dent in their future

Had three more, and had to call it quits

The death of their first, and Jim's frequent trips

Mixed with Jim's drinks made it hard to coexist

Still don't get it twisted Jim cared about his kids

Such is life tough love in situations

Blessings in disguise that can lead to lituations

Like founding an NFL team full of Natives

The Oorang Indians defined Native greatness

In partnership with a star hound breeder

Through whom he met his future wife by the name of Freeda

They had four kids and parted for the same reasons

Again sports had the goat too often leaving

He played his last game at the age of forty one

Then he sold the rights to his life story for a sum

The stock market crashed then began the Great Depression

He got a gig acting as his newfound expression

I've seen George McAfee and I've seen Gale Sayers

And I played with George Gipp and I played with

Bronco Nagurski and I played with football players

Of that type but the greatest football player, I guess

Of all of them was Jim Thorpe. He could do

What's the matter with Ernie Nevers? You didn't

Hear me mention his name did you

Henry McDonald was among the first black players

Jim defended him against a white trash racist

So it's not surprising that he spoke out against

White people painting skin red so they could act Native

Jim advocated accurate portrayal

Spent his last years speaking up for Native rights

They casted Burton Lancaster for his life's portrayal

While he lived in a trailer at the end of his life

Jim Thorpe could throw his knees right into my head

Or shoulders or ribs but, instead off that, I was on the

Ground crawling around you know, on knees and arms

Why, he just, he just sat astride me and bore me to the

Ground. He said, 'well, if you're a horse I'll ride you