Billy Bragg - Joe Hill Lyrics

Lyrics Joe Hill - Billy Bragg



Joe Hill come over from Sweden shores
Looking for some work to do
And the Statue of Liberty waved him by
As Joe come a sailing through, Joe Hill
As Joe come a sailing through.
Oh his clothes were coarse and his hopes were high
As he headed for the promised land
And it took a few weeks on the out-of-work streets
Before he began to understand
Before he began to understand
And Joe got hired by a bowery bar
Sweeping up the saloon
As his rag would sail over the bar room rail
Sounded like he whistled on a tune
You could almost hear him whistling on a tune
And Joe rolled on from job to job
From the docks to the railroad line
And no matter how hungry the hand that wrote
In his letters he was always doing fine
In his letters he was always doing fine
Oh, the years went by like the sun goin' down
Slowly turn the page
And when Joe looked back at the sweat upon his tracks
He had nothing to show but his age
He had nothing to show but his age
So he headed out for the California shore
There things were just as bad
So he joined the industrial workers of the world
'Cause, The union was the only friend he had
'Cause, The union was the only friend he had
Now the strikes were bloody and the strikes were black
As hard as they were long
In the dark of night Joe would stay awake and write
In the morning he would raise them with a song
In the morning he would raise them with a song
And he wrote his words to the tunes of the day
To be passed along the union vine
And the strikes were led and the songs were spread
And Joe Hill was always on the line
Yes Joe Hill was always on the line
Now in Salt Lake City a murder was made
There was hardly a clue to find
Oh, the proof was poor, but the sheriff was sure
Joe was the killer of the crime
That Joe was the killer of the crime
Joe raised his hands but they shot him down
He had nothing but guilt to give
It's a doctor I need and they left him to bleed
He made it 'cause he had the will to live
Yes, He made it 'cause he had the will to live
Then the trial was held in a building of wood
And there the killer would be named
And the days weighed more than the cold copper ore
Cause he feared that he was being framed
Cause he found out that he was being framed
Oh, strange are the ways of western law
Strange are the ways of fate
For the government crawled to the mine owner's call
That the judge was appointed by the state
Yes, The judge was appointed by the state
Oh, Utah justice can be had
But not for a union man
And Joe was warned by summer early morn
That there'd be one less singer in the land
There'd be one less singer in the land
Now William Spry was Governor Spry
And a life was his to hold
On the last appeal, fell a governor's tear
May the lord have mercy on your soul
May the lord have mercy on your soul
Even President Wilson held up the day
But even he would fail
For nobody heard the soul searching words
Of the soul in the Salt Lake City jail
Of the soul in the Salt Lake City jail
For 36 years he lived out his days
And he more than played his part
For his songs that he made, he was carefully paid
With a rifle bullet buried in his heart
With a rifle bullet buried in his heart
Yes, they lined Joe Hill up against the wall
Blindfold over his eyes
It's the life of a rebel that he chose to live
It's the death of a rebel that he died
It's the death of a rebel that he died
Now some say Joe was guilty as charged
And some say he wasn't even there
And I guess nobody will ever know
'Cause the court records all disappeared
'Cause the court records all disappeared
Say wherever you go in this fair land
In every union hall
In the dusty dark these words are marked
In between all the cracks upon the wall
In between all the cracks upon the wall
It's the very last line that Joe Will wrote
When he knew that his days were through
Boys, this is my last and final will
Good luck to all of You
Good luck to all of You



Writer(s): Phil Ochs


Billy Bragg - Billy Bragg, Vol. 1
Album Billy Bragg, Vol. 1
date of release
06-03-2006

1 Jeane (Live San Fransisco 3 June 1985)
2 Love Gets Dangerous (Alternative Version)
3 The Cloth (1)
4 The Milkman of Human Kindness
5 To Have and to Have Not
6 Richard
7 A New England
8 The Man in the Iron Mask
9 The Busy Girl Buys Beauty
10 Lovers Town Revisited
11 Strange Things Happen (Alternative Version)
12 Love Lives Here
13 Speedway Hero
14 Loving You Too Long
15 This Guitar Says Sorry (Alternative Version)
16 The Cloth (2)
17 The Man in the Iron Mask (Alternative Version)
18 A13, Trunk Road to the Sea
19 Fear Is a Man's Best Friend
20 It Says Here
21 Love Gets Dangerous
22 The Myth of Trust
23 From a Vauxhall Velox
24 The Saturday Boy
25 Island of No Reurn
26 St. Swithin's Day
27 Like Solders Do
28 This Guitar Says Sorry
29 Strange Things Happen
30 A Lover Sings
31 It Must Be A River
32 Won't Talk About It
33 Talking Wag Club Blues
34 You Got The Power
35 The Last Time
36 Back To The Old House
37 A Lover Sings (Alternative Version)
38 Which Side Are You On
39 It Says Here (Alternative Version)
40 Between the Wars
41 The World Turned Upside Down
42 Greetings to the New Brunette
43 Train Train
44 The Marriage
45 Ideology
46 Levi Stubbs' Tears
47 Honey, I'm a Big Boy Now
48 There Is Power in a Union
49 Help Save the Youth of America
50 Wishing the Days Away
51 The Passion
52 The Warmest Room
53 The Home Front
54 Sin City
55 Deportees
56 There Is Power In a Union (Instrumental)
57 The Tracks of My Tears
58 Wishing the Days Away (Alternative Version)
59 The Clashing of Ideologies (Alternative Version)
60 Greetings To the New Brunette (Demo)
61 A Nurse's Life Is Full of Woe
62 Only Bad Signs
63 Hold the Fort
64 The Internationale
65 I Dreamed I Saw Phil Ochs Last Night
66 The Marching Song of the Covert Battalions
67 Blake's Jerusalem
68 Nicaragua Nicarguita
69 The Red Flag
70 My Youngest Son Came Home Today
71 Introduction (Live)
72 Help Save the Youth of America (Live)
73 Think Again (Live)
74 Chile Your Waters Run Red Through Soweto (Live)
75 Days Like These (DC Remix)
76 To Have and to Have Not - Live
77 There is Power In a Union (With the Pattersons) [Alternative Version]
78 Joe Hill
79 This Land Is Your Land
80 Never Cross a Picket Line
81 A Change Is Gonna Come
82 A Miner's Life
83 From a Vauxhall to a Velox (Live San Fransisco 3 June 1985)
84 The Marriage (Live San Fransisco 3 June 1985)
85 It Says Here (Live San Fransisco 3 June 1985)
86 Which Side Are You On (Live San Fransisco 3 June 1985)
87 The Saturday Boy (Live San Fransisco 3 June 1985)
88 The Milkman of Human Kindness (Live San Fransisco 3 June 1985)
89 A Lover Sings (Live San Fransisco 3 June 1985)
90 There Is Power In a Union (Live San Fransisco 3 June 1985)
91 Between the Wars (Live San Fransisco 3 June 1985)
92 To Have and to Have Not (Live San Fransisco 3 June 1985)




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