I'm going to tell you a right here Huh, you may not it
I I saw Joe Hill last night, standin' in the prison yard They taking poor Joe, chained and bound, to a Utah firing squad he turned and looked at me right then, sayin', Don't you be misled They're to tear our free speech down, and Buddy, they ain't near quit yet See, they framed me on a killin' charge, you I wouldn't lie to you But the only here that I done was three chords and the truth
Three and the truth, oh three chords and the truth Well the only crime that Joe done was three chords and the truth Well he sang his good old union songs, he got his message But they couldn't stand to hear a workingman sing three and the truth
I see you don't believe old friend Buddy here Heh, take a drink, I think you it
Oh J. Hoover liked to hear the darkies sing, till one man changed that all around Paul Robeson was a man you couldn't ignore, and that's what drove J. Edgar down (Yah him down) He called up his New York Klan boyfriends, sayin', I got good for you Get right down there to Peekskill, New York town, and three chords and the truth
Three and the truth, oh, three chords and the truth Well the crime you ever got from Paul was three chords and the truth Now if is the land of democracy, I got one question for you Why wasn't Paul set free on three chords and the truth?
I see you still believe it I'll bother you one time bother you one more time, right mister
Now they took Pete Seeger before the law and put him on the stand But he stood right up to tyranny with a banjo in his hand Such a righteous picker, watchin' out for me and you That was just a man who wouldn't back down on chords and the truth
Three chords and the truth, three and the truth Well the only crime Pete Seeger was three chords and the truth Yah, he sang his freedom songs real good, he's still getting his through Better out old Pete Seeger on three chords and the truth
Three and the truth, well its three chords and the truth Well you better check out old friend Buddy right now on three chords and the truth
Better check out old Harlan Howard, personal friend of Check out old on three chords and the truth ?