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