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
streets
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 barroom 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 al ways 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 Work
ers 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 ap
pointed 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"