Joe Hill come over from Sweden Looking for work to do And the Statue of waved him by As Joe come a sailing through, Joe As Joe come a sailing
Oh his clothes coarse and his hopes were high As he for the promised land And it took a few on the out-of-work streets Before he began to Before he began to
And Joe got hired by a bar up the saloon As his rag would over the barroom rail Sounded like he on a tune 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 that In his letters he was doing fine In his letters he was always doing
Oh, the years by like the sun goin' down turn the page and when Joe Looked at the sweat upon his tracks He had nothing to but his age He had to show but his age
So he headed out for the California There things just as bad So he joined the industrial workers of the the union was the only friend he had 'Cause the union was the friend he had
Now, the strikes were bloody and the Were as hard as they were long In the dark of night Joe would awake and write In the morning he would them with a song In the morning he would raise them a song
And he wrote his words to the of the day To be passed the union vine And the strikes were led and the were spread And Joe Hill was on the line Yes, Joe was always on the line
Now, in Salt Lake a murder was made was hardly a clue to find Oh, the was poor but the sheriff was sure Joe was the killer of the Joe was the killer of the crime
Joe raised his hands but they shot him He had nothing but guilt to It's a doctor I need and they him to bleed He made it he had the will to live Yes, he made it he had the will to live
Then the trial was in a building of wood And there the killer be named And the days weighed more the cold copper ore 'Cause he feared he was being framed 'Cause he found out that he was framed
Oh, are the ways of western law are the ways of fate For the government crawled to the mine owner's That the was appointed by the state Yes, the judge was by the state
Oh, justice can be had but not for a union man And Joe was warned by early morn That there'd be one less in the land be one less singer in the land
Now, William Spry was Spry And a life was his to On the last appeal, a governor's tear "May the Lord have on your soul May the Lord mercy on your soul"
Even President held up the day But even he fail For nobody the soul searching words Of the soul in the Salt City jail Of the in the Salt Lake City jail
For 36 he lived out his days And he more than his part For his songs that he made, he was paid a rifle bullet buried in his heart With a rifle bullet buried in his
Yes, lined Joe Hill up against the wall Blindfold over his It's the of a rebel that he chose to live It's the death of a rebel that he the death of a rebel that he died
Now, some say Joe was guilty as And some say he even there And I nobody will ever know 'Cause the records all disappeared 'Cause the court all disappeared
Say wherever you go in this fair land in union hall In the dusty dark words are marked In between all the cracks upon the In between all the upon the wall
the very last line that Joe Hill wrote When he knew that his were through "Boys, this is my last and will Good luck to all of you, luck to all of you"