Chris LeDoux

Featuring: Jon Bon Jovi

Songwriter: Jon Bon Jovi

Producer: Trey Bruce

[Verse 1]
I went to see the preacher
To teach me how to pray
He looked at me and smiled
Then that preacher turned away
Said, "If you want to tell him something
You ain't gotta fold your hands
Say it with your heart, your soul and believe it
And I'll say, Amen"

[Chorus]
Bang a drum for the sinners
Bang a drum for his sins
Bang a drum for the losers
And those who win
Bang a drum, bang it loudly
Or as soft as you need
Bang a drum for yourself, son
And a drum for me

[Verse 2]
Well, I called upon my brother
Just the other day
He said, "Jon, I'm gonna die
If I don't start to live again
I work each day and night like clockwork
Just tryin' to make ends meet
Well, I could kick this bad world's ass
If I could just get on my feet"

[Chorus]
Bang a drum for the dying
Bang a drum for the truth
Bang a drum for the innocence
Lost in our youth
Bang a drum, bang it loudly
Or as soft as you need
Bang a drum for your brother
And a drum for me

[Bridge]
I don't know where all the rivers run
I don't know how far, I don't know how come
But I'm gonna die believin'
With each step that I take
Ain't worth the ground that I walk
If we don't walk it our own way

[Verse 3]
I don't claim to be a wise man
A poet or a saint
Just another man who's searchin'
For a better way
But, my heart beats loud as thunder
For the things that I believe
Sometimes I want to run for cover
Sometimes I want to scream

[Chorus]
Bang a drum for the tomorrow
Bang a drum for the past
Bang a drum for the heroes
Who won't come back
Bang a drum for the promise
Bang a drum for the lies
Bang a drum for the lovers
And the tears they cry
Bang a drum, bang it loudly
Or as soft as you need
But as long as my heart keeps on banging
I've got a reason to believe

Chris Lee LeDoux was born in Biloxi, Mississippi on October 2, 1948. His family moved frequently due to his father’s career in the US Air Force. LeDoux learned to ride horses visiting his grandparents' farm in Michigan and competed in his first rodeo at the age of thirteen in Texas. During high school, he won the Wyoming State Rodeo Championship bareback riding title and went to Casper College on a rodeo scholarship. He won the 1969 National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association bareback riding title, qualified for the National Finals Rodeo four times, and won the Professional Rodeo Cowboy’s Association Bareback World Championship in 1976.

On January 4, 1972, LeDoux married Peggy Rhoads. Together they had five children: Clay, born about 1973; Ned, born about 1978; Will, born about 1980; Cindy, born about 1981; and Beau, born about 1983. Besides being a singer-songwriter, Chris was also a rodeo competitor and a bronze sculptor. He made his home at his ranch, Haywire, near Kaycee, Wyoming.

In 2000, Chris was diagnosed with primary sclerosing cholangitis (a chronic liver disease) which required a liver transplant. Garth Brooks volunteered to donate part of his liver, but was incompatible. An alternative was located and he received his transplant on October 7, 2000. In November 2004, he was diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma (also known as bile duct cancer). He underwent radiation treatments until his death on March 9, 2005 in Casper, Wyoming.

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