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