Joshua Gone Barbados (Album Version)

Cane standing in the fields
Getting old and red
Lot of misery in Georgetown
Three men lying dead

Joshua, head of the government
He said strike for better pay
Cane cutters are striking
Joshua gone away

Joshua gone Barbados
Staying in a big hotel
People on St. Vincent
They got many sad tales to tell

Sugar mill owner told the strikers
I don't need you to cut my cane
Bring in another bunch of fellows
Strike be all in vain

Get a bunch of tough fellows
Bring 'em from Sion Hill
Bring 'em in a bus to Georgetown
Know somebody get killed

Sonny Child, the overseer
I swear he's an ignorant man
Walking through the cane field
Pistol in his hand

But Joshua gone Barbados
Just like he don't know
People on the island
They got no place to go

Police giving protection
New fellows cutting the cane
Strikers can't do nothing
Strike be all in vain

And Sonny Child, he curse the strikers
Wave his pistol 'round
They're beating Sonny with a cutlass
Beat him to the ground

There's a lot of misery in Georgetown
You can hear the women bawl
Joshua gone Barbados
He don't care at all

Cane standing in the fields
Getting old and red
Sonny Child in the hospital
Pistol on his bed

I wish I could go to England
Trinidad or Curacao
People on the island
They got no place to go

Joshua gone Barbados
Staying in a big hotel
People on St. Vincent
Got many sad tales to tell