Go to sleep you weary hobo
Let the towns drift slowly by
Can't you hear the steel rails hummin'
That's the hobo's lullaby
I know your clothes are torn and ragged
And your hair is turning gray
Lift your head and smile at trouble
You'll find peace and rest someday
Now don't you worry 'bout tomorrow
Let tomorrow come and go
Tonight you're in a nice warm boxcar
Safe from all that wind and snow
I know the police cause you trouble
They cause trouble everywhere
But when you die and go to Heaven
You'll find no policemen there
So go to sleep you weary hobo
Let the towns drift slowly by
Listen to the steel rails hummin'
That's a hobo's lullaby
Hey lolly lolly lolly
hey lolly lolly lolly low
A married man will keep your secret
a single boy will talk about you
A playin' man will keep your secret
a quiet man will talk about you
Well, a married man's an easy rider
a single boy gets all excited
Single boy walks up and down the street
Married man's in his stockin' feet
I stood on the stepstone when schooldays was o'er
Long for the time to go by
Now that it's gone, I stand here tonight
Bid this old stepstone good bye.
Goodbye to my stepstone, goodbye to my home
God bless the ones that I leave with a cry
The field will be widening and I wil be gone
To ramble this wide world alone.
I stand on my stepsyone at eventide now,
The wind whistles by with a moan
Now it is gone and I stand here tonight
Goodbye to my stepstone and home.
Goodbye to my stepstone...
It's hard to be parted from those that we love
When reverses in fortune have come.
The world's strongest heartstrings are broken in twain
From the absence of loved ones and home.
Goodbye to my stepstone...
On Springfield Mountain there did dwell
A lovely youth I knowed him well.
Too roo de nay, too roo de noo
This lovely youth one day did go
Down to the meadom for to mow.
Too roo de nay, too roo de noo.
He scarce had mowed quite round the field
When a crul serpent bit his heel.
Too roo de nay, too roo de noo.
They took him home to molly dear
Which made him feel so very gueer.
Too roo de nay, too roo de noo.
Now Molly had two ruby lips
With which the poison she did sip.
Too roo de nay, too roo de noo.
Now Molly had a rotting tooth,
And so the poison killed them both.
I went across the river
I lay down to sleep
I went across the river
I lay down to sleep
When I woke up
Had shackles on my feet
It takes a worried man
To sing a worried song
It takes a worried man
To sing a worried song
I'm worried now
But I won't be worried long
Twenty-one links
Of chain around my leg
Twenty-one links
Of chain around my leg
And on each link
'S an initial of my name
I asked that judge
What's gonna be my fine
I asked that judge
What's gonna be my fine
Twenty-one years
On the Rocky Mountain line
That train pulled out
Twenty-one coaches long
That train pulled out
Twenty-one coaches long
And the woman I love
Is on that train and gone
Twenty-one years
Pay my awful crime
Twenty-one years
Pay my awful crime
Tweny-one years
And I still got ninety-nine
Wake up, wake up, wake up.
Wake up, wake up, wake up.
Wake up, wake up, wake up.
Wake up, wake up, wake up.
Open eyes, open eyes, open eyes.
Open eyes, open eyes, open eyes.
Wake up, wake up, wake up.
Open eyes, open eyes, open eyes.
Stretch arms, stretch legs, and feet and toes.
Stretch arms, stretch legs, and feet and toes.
Wake up, wake up, wake up.
Stretch arms, stretch legs, and feet and toes.
Tell the miners' kids and wives,
There's a blast in the number five.
And the families I see standing at the gate.
The inspector years ago said number five's a deadly hole,
And the men most likely won't come out alive.
Waiting at the gate, we are waiting at the gate.
Smoke and fire just roll and boil from that dark and deadly hole,
While the miners' kids and wives wait at the gate.
The inspector told the boss, it was more than a year ago,
You're risking these men's lives in number five.
That hole's full of fumes and dust, full of high explosive gas,
But the boss said we'll just have to take the chance.
Waiting at the gate, we are waiting at the gate.
Smoke and fire just roll and boil from that dark and deadly hole,
While the miners' kids and wives wait at the gate.
Well the men in the number five kissed their wives and kids goodbye,
Then they walk with their lunch kits up the hill.
Everybody told the owner that this deadly day would come,
But he said we had to work to pay our bills.
Waiting at the gate, we are waiting at the gate.
Smoke and fire just roll and boil from that dark and deadly hole,
While the miners' kids and wives wait at the gate.
Well I tried to get a look of the face I often know,
As the men are carried out wrapped up in sheets.
I can hear the church bells ringing for the one hundred eleven dead,
I can hear the families weeping in the streets.
Waiting at the gate, we are waiting at the gate.
Smoke and fire just roll and boil from that dark and deadly hole,
While the miners' kids and wives wait at the gate.
This explosion struck on Wednesday,
and I stood by the gate till Saturday,
Till they laid my daddy out with the other men.
In the pocket of his shirt I found a little note he wrote,
Never go down in a dangerous mine again.
Waiting at the gate, we are waiting at the gate.
Smoke and fire just roll and boil from that dark and deadly hole,
While the miners' kids and wives wait at the gate.
Have you seen that vigilante man?
Have you seen that vigilante man?
Have you seen that vigilante man?
I been hearin' his name all over the land.
Well, what is a vigilante man?
Tell me, what is a vigilante man?
Has he got a gun and a club in his hand?
Is that is a vigilante man?
Rainy night down in the engine house,
Sleepin' just as still as a mouse,
Man come along an' he chased us out in the rain.
Was that a vigilante man?
Stormy days we passed the time away,
Sleepin' in some good warm place.
Man come along an' we give him a little race.
Was that a vigilante man?
Preacher Casey was just a workin' man,
And he said, "Unite all you working men."
Killed him in the river some strange man.
Was that a vigilante man?
Oh, why does a vigilante man,
Why does a vigilante man
Carry that sawed-off shot-gun in his hand?
Would he shoot his brother and sister down?
I rambled 'round from town to town,
I rambled 'round from town to town,
And they herded us around like a wild herd of cattle.
Was that the vigilante men?
Have you seen that vigilante man?
Have you seen that vigilante man?
I've heard his name all over this land.
Did you ever see a hangman tie a hangknot?
Did you ever see a hangman tie a hangknot?
I've seen it many a time and he winds, he winds,
After thirteen times he's got a hangknot.
Tell me will that hangknot slip, no it will not,
Will that hangknot slip, no it will not.
Slip around your neck, but it won't slip back again
Hangknot, hangknot, that hangknot.
Did you ever lose your father on a hangknot?
Did you ever lose your father on a hangknot?
They hung him from a pole, and they shot him full of holes,
Left him there to rot on that hangknot.
Tell me who makes the laws for that hangknot?
Who makes the laws for that hangknot?
Who says who will go to the calaboose?
Get the hangman's noose on a hangknot.
I don't know who makes the law for that hangknot.
I don't know who makes the law for that hangknot.
But the bones of many a men are whistling in the wind,
Just because they tied their laws with a hangknot.
I see they're lowering right new coffin,
I see they're letting down right new coffin,
Way over in that Union Burying Ground.
And the new dirt's falling on a right new coffin,
The new dirt's falling on a right new coffin
Way over in that Union Burying Ground.
O, tell me who's that they're letting down, down,
Tell me who's that they're letting down, down,
Way over in that Union Burying Ground.
Another union organizer,
Another union organizer,
Way over in that Union Burying Ground.
A union brother and a union sister,
A union brother and a union sister,
Way over in that Union Burying Ground.
A union father and a union mother,
A union father and a union mother,
Way over in that Union Burying Ground.
Well, I'm going to sleep in a union coffin,
I'm going to sleep in a union coffin,
Way over in that Union Burying round.
Every new grave brings a thousand new ones,
Every new grave brings a thousand members,
Way over in that Union Burying round.
Every new grave brings a thousand brothers,
Every new grave brings a thousand sisters,
Way over in that Union Burying round.
Say, there, did you hear the news?
Sacco worked at trimmin' shoes;
Vanzetti was a peddlin' man,
Pushed his fish cart with his hand.
Two good men a long time gone,
Two good men a long time gone,
Sacco an' Vanzetti are gone,
[ALTERNATE: Two good men a long time gone] Left me here to sing this song.
Sacco's born across the sea,
Somewhere over in Italy;
Vanzetti born of parents fine,
Drank the best Italian wine.
Sacco sailed the sea one day,
Landed up in the Boston Bay.
Vanzetti sailed the ocean blue,
An' landed up in Boston, too.
Sacco's wife three children had;
Sacco was a family man.
Vanzetti was a dreamin' man,
His book was always in his hands.
Sacco earned his bread and butter
Bein' the factory's best shoe cutter.
Vanzetti spoke both day and night,
Told the workers how to fight.
I'll tell you if you ask me
'Bout this payroll robbery.
Two clerks was killed by the shoe fact'ry,
On the streets in South Braintree.
Judge Thayer told his friends around
That he had cut the radicals down.
"Anarchist bastard" was the name
Judge Thayer called these two good men.
I'll tell you the prosecutor's name,
Katzman, Adams, Williams, Kane.
The Judge and lawyers strutted down,
They done more tricks than circus clowns.
Vanzetti docked in nineteen eight;
Slept along the dirty street,
Told the workers "Organize,"
And on the 'lectric chair he dies.
All you people ought to be like me,
And work like Sacco and Vanzetti,
And everyday find ways to fight
On the union side for the workers' rights.
Well, I ain't got time to tell this tale,
The dicks and bulls are on my trail.
But I'll remember these two good men
That died to show me how to live.
All you people in Suassos Lane,
Sing this song and sing it plain.
All you folks that's comin' along,
Jump in with me and sing this song.
Tom Joad got out of the old McAlester Pen;
There he got his parole.
After four long years on a man killing charge,
Tom Joad come a-walkin' down the road, poor boy,
Tom Joad come a-walkin' down the road.
Tom Joad, he met a truck driving man;
There he caught him a ride.
He said, "I just got loose from McAlester Pen
On a charge called homicide,
A charge called homicide."
That truck rolled away in a cloud of dust;
Tommy turned his face toward home.
He met Preacher Casey, and they had a little drink,
But they found that his family they was gone,
He found that his family they was gone.
He found his mother's old fashion shoe,
Found his daddy's hat.
And he found little Muley and Muley said,
"They've been tractored out by the cats,
They've been tractored out by the cats."
Tom Joad walked down to the neighbor's farm,
Found his family.
They took Preacher Casey and loaded in a car,
And his mother said, "We've got to get away."
His mother said, "We've got to get away."
Now, the twelve of the Joads made a mighty heavy load;
But Grandpa Joad did cry.
He picked up a handful of land in his hand,
Said: "I'm stayin' with the farm till I die.
Yes, I'm stayin' with the farm till I die."
They fed him short ribs and coffee and soothing syrup;
And Grandpa Joad did die.
They buried Grandpa Joad by the side of the road,
Grandma on the California side,
They buried Grandma on the California side.
They stood on a mountain and they looked to the west,
And it looked like the promised land.
That bright green valley with a river running through,
There was work for every single hand, they thought,
There was work for every single hand.
The Joads rolled away to the jungle camp,
There they cooked a stew.
And the hungry little kids of the jungle camp
Said: "We'd like to have some, too."
Said: "We'd like to have some, too."
Now a deputy sheriff fired loose at a man,
Shot a woman in the back.
Before he could take his aim again,
Preacher Casey dropped him in his track, poor boy,
Preacher Casey dropped him in his track.
They handcuffed Casey and they took him in jail;
And then he got away.
And he met Tom Joad on the old river bridge,
And these few words he did say, poor boy,
These few words he did say.
"I preached for the Lord a mighty long time,
Preached about the rich and the poor.
Us workin' folkses, all get together,
'Cause we ain't got a chance anymore.
We ain't got a chance anymore."
Now, the deputies come, and Tom and Casey run
To the bridge where the water run down.
But the vigilante thugs hit Casey with a club,
They laid Preacher Casey on the ground, poor Casey,
They laid Preacher Casey on the ground.
Tom Joad, he grabbed that deputy's club,
Hit him over the head.
Tom Joad took flight in the dark rainy night,
And a deputy and a preacher lying dead, two men,
A deputy and a preacher lying dead.
Tom run back where his mother was asleep;
He woke her up out of bed.
An' he kissed goodbye to the mother that he loved,
Said what Preacher Casey said, Tom Joad,
He said what Preacher Casey said.
"Ever'body might be just one big soul,
Well it looks that a-way to me.
Everywhere that you look, in the day or night,
That's where I'm a-gonna be, Ma,
That's where I'm a-gonna be.
Wherever little children are hungry and cry,
Wherever people ain't free.
Wherever men are fightin' for their rights,
That's where I'm a-gonna be, Ma.
That's where I'm a-gonna be."
Tom Joad got out of the old McAlester Pen;
There he got his parole.
After four long years on a man killing charge,
Tom Joad come a-walkin' down the road, poor boy,
Tom Joad come a-walkin' down the road.
Tom Joad, he met a truck driving man;
There he caught him a ride.
He said, "I just got loose from McAlester Pen
On a charge called homicide,
A charge called homicide."
That truck rolled away in a cloud of dust;
Tommy turned his face toward home.
He met Preacher Casey, and they had a little drink,
But they found that his family they was gone,
He found that his family they was gone.
He found his mother's old fashion shoe,
Found his daddy's hat.
And he found little Muley and Muley said,
"They've been tractored out by the cats,
They've been tractored out by the cats."
Tom Joad walked down to the neighbor's farm,
Found his family.
They took Preacher Casey and loaded in a car,
And his mother said, "We've got to get away."
His mother said, "We've got to get away."
Now, the twelve of the Joads made a mighty heavy load;
But Grandpa Joad did cry.
He picked up a handful of land in his hand,
Said: "I'm stayin' with the farm till I die.
Yes, I'm stayin' with the farm till I die."
They fed him short ribs and coffee and soothing syrup;
And Grandpa Joad did die.
They buried Grandpa Joad by the side of the road,
Grandma on the California side,
They buried Grandma on the California side.
They stood on a mountain and they looked to the west,
And it looked like the promised land.
That bright green valley with a river running through,
There was work for every single hand, they thought,
There was work for every single hand.
The Joads rolled away to the jungle camp,
There they cooked a stew.
And the hungry little kids of the jungle camp
Said: "We'd like to have some, too."
Said: "We'd like to have some, too."
Now a deputy sheriff fired loose at a man,
Shot a woman in the back.
Before he could take his aim again,
Preacher Casey dropped him in his track, poor boy,
Preacher Casey dropped him in his track.
They handcuffed Casey and they took him in jail;
And then he got away.
And he met Tom Joad on the old river bridge,
And these few words he did say, poor boy,
These few words he did say.
"I preached for the Lord a mighty long time,
Preached about the rich and the poor.
Us workin' folkses, all get together,
'Cause we ain't got a chance anymore.
We ain't got a chance anymore."
Now, the deputies come, and Tom and Casey run
To the bridge where the water run down.
But the vigilante thugs hit Casey with a club,
They laid Preacher Casey on the ground, poor Casey,
They laid Preacher Casey on the ground.
Tom Joad, he grabbed that deputy's club,
Hit him over the head.
Tom Joad took flight in the dark rainy night,
And a deputy and a preacher lying dead, two men,
A deputy and a preacher lying dead.
Tom run back where his mother was asleep;
He woke her up out of bed.
An' he kissed goodbye to the mother that he loved,
Said what Preacher Casey said, Tom Joad,
He said what Preacher Casey said.
"Ever'body might be just one big soul,
Well it looks that a-way to me.
Everywhere that you look, in the day or night,
That's where I'm a-gonna be, Ma,
That's where I'm a-gonna be.
Wherever little children are hungry and cry,
Wherever people ain't free.
Wherever men are fightin' for their rights,
That's where I'm a-gonna be, Ma.
That's where I'm a-gonna be."
This land is your land, this land is my land
From [the] California to the [Staten] New York Island,
From the Redwood Forest, to the Gulf stream waters,
[God blessed America for me.]
As I went walking that ribbon of highway
And saw above me that endless skyway,
And saw below me the golden valley, I said:
[God blessed America for me.]
I roamed and rambled and followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts,
And all around me , a voice was sounding:
[God blessed America for me.]
Was a high wall there that tried to stop me
A sign was painted said: Private Property,
But on the back side it didn't say nothing --
[God blessed America for me.]
When the sun come shining, then I was strolling
In wheat fields waving and dust clouds rolling;
The voice was chanting as the fog was lifting:
[God blessed America for me.]
One bright sunny morning in the shadow of the steeple
By the Relief Office I saw my people --
As they stood hungry, I stood there wondering if
[God blessed America for me.]
On the 14th day of April of 1935,
There struck the worst of dust storms that ever filled the sky.
You could see that dust storm comin', the cloud looked deathlike black,
And through our mighty nation, it left a dreadful track.
From Oklahoma City to the Arizona line,
Dakota and Nebraska to the lazy Rio Grande,
It fell across our city like a curtain of black rolled down,
We thought it was our judgement, we thought it was our doom.
The radio reported, we listened with alarm,
The wild and windy actions of this great mysterious storm;
From Albuquerque and Clovis, and all New Mexico,
They said it was the blackest that ever they had saw.
From old Dodge City, Kansas, the dust had rung their knell,
And a few more comrades sleeping on top of old Boot Hill.
From Denver, Colorado, they said it blew so strong,
They thought that they could hold out, but they didn't know how long.
Our relatives were huddled into their oil boom shacks,
And the children they was cryin' as it whistled through the cracks.
And the family it was crowded into their little room,
They thought the world had ended, and they thought it was their doom.
The storm took place at sundown, it lasted through the night,
When we looked out next morning, we saw a terrible sight.
We saw outside our window where wheat fields they had grown
Was now a rippling ocean of dust the wind had blown.
It covered up our fences, it covered up our barns,
It covered up our tractors in this wild and dusty storm.
We loaded our jalopies and piled our families in,
We rattled down that highway to never come back again.
I stick out my little hand
To ev'ry woman, kid and man
And I shake it up and down, howjido, howjido
Yes, I shake it up and down, howjido
Howdy doozle doodle doozie
Howji hijie heejie hojie,
Howji hojie heejie hijie,
Howjido, howjido, howjido, sir,
Doodle doosie, howjido.
And when you walk in my door,
I will run across my floor,
And I'll shake you by the hand,
Howjido, howjido,
Yes, I'll shake it up and down, howjido
On my sidewalk, on my street,
Any place that we do meet,
Then I'll shake you by your hand,
Howjido, howjido,
Yes, I'll shake it up and down, howjido
When I first jump out of bed,
Out my window goes my head,
And I shake it up and down,
Howjido, howjido,
I shake at all my windows, howjido
I feel glad when you feel good,
You brighten up my neighborhood,
Shakin'hands with ev'rybody,
Howjido, howjido,
Shakin' hands with ev'rybody, howjido
When I meet a dog or cat,
I will rubby rub his back,
Shakey, shakey, shakey paw,
Howjido, howjido,
Shaking hands with everybody, howdy do.
Well the world has seven wonders, the travelers always tell:
Some gardens and some towers, I guess you know them well.
But the greatest wonder is in Uncle Sam's fair land.
It's that King Columbia River and the big Grand Coulee Dam.
She heads up the Canadian Rockies where the rippling waters glide,
Comes a-rumbling down the canyon to meet that salty tide
Of the wide Pacific Ocean where the sun sets in the west,
And the big Grand Coulee country in the land I love the best.
In the misty crystal glitter of that wild and windward spray,
Men have fought the pounding waters and met a watery grave.
She tore their boats to splinters but she gave men dreams to dream
Of the day the Coulee Dam would cross that wild and wasted stream.
Uncle Sam took up the challenge in the year of '33
For the farmer and the factory and all of you and me.
He said, "Roll along Columbia. You can ramble to the sea,
But river while you're ramblin' you can do some work for me."
Now in Washington and Oregon you hear the factories hum,
Making chrome and making manganese and light aluminum.
And there roars a mighty furnace now to fight for Uncle Sam,
Spawned upon the King Columbia by the big Grand Coulee Dam.
In a half and an hour ago,
Way down in this tunnel of coal,
Gas caught fire from somebody's lamp.
And the miners are choking in smoke.
Goodbye to Dickie and Honey,
Goodbye to the wife that I love.
One of these men not coming home,
Tonight when the work whistle blows.
Dear sisters and brothers goodbye,
Dear mother and father goodbye.
My fingers are weak and I cannot write,
Goodbye Centralia, goodbye.
It looks like the end for me,
And all of my buddies I see.
We're all writing letters to children we love,
Please carry our word to our wives.
We, found a little place in the air,
Crawled and drug ourselves here.
But the smoke is bad and the fumes coming in,
And the gas is burning my eyes.
Dear sisters and brothers goodbye,
Dear mother and father goodbye.
My fingers are weak and I cannot write,
Goodbye Centralia, goodbye.
Forgive me for the things I done wrong,
I love you lots more than you know.
When the night whistle blows and I don't come home,
Do all that you can to help mom.
I can hear the moans and groans,
More than a hundred good men.
Just work and right and try to see,
That this never happens again.
Dear sisters and brothers goodbye,
Dear mother and father goodbye.
My fingers are weak and I cannot write,
Goodbye Centralia, goodbye.
My eyes are blinded with fumes,
But it sounds like the men are all gone,
'Cept Joe Valentini, Fred Gussler and George,
Trapped down in this hell hole of fire.
Please name our new baby Joe,
So he'll grow up like big Joe.
He'll work and he'll right and he'll fix up the mines,
So fire can't kill daddy no more.
Dear sisters and brothers goodbye,
Dear mother and father goodbye.
My fingers are weak and I cannot write,
Goodbye Centralia, goodbye.
I went down to the fishing hole,
And I set down with my fishing pole;
Somethin' grabb'd my hook and it got my bait
And Jerked me out in the middle of the lake.
Huh it was some jump boy,
I got sunk, kinda baptized on credit.
Fishin' down on th' muddy bank,
Felt a pull an' give a big yank,
I drug out three old rubber boots,
A Ford radiator an' a Chevrolet coop
(Nothin' but Junk, so I handed it in
For National Defence).
Settin' in a boat with a bucket of beer,
Hadn't caught nuthin' but didn't much care,
I guess I was pretty well satisfied,
Had my little woman right by my side
(Takin' it easy, just waitin'
Worm been gone off-a that hook for a couple of hours.
I was busy).
When you go fishin', tell y' what to do,
Go set down by the grassy dew,
Take a piece of string, tie it on yo' pole,
Throw it way out in th' middle of th' hole.
Find you a good shady tree and then just set down.
(Go to sleep, forget all about it
Can't catch nuthin' here anyways.)
Well I walked out to a sandy bar,
And I caught myself a big alligator gar,
Drug him home across my back,
Tail was dragging a mile and a half,
Flippin' an' floppin'. I sold him for a quarter.
(Shot craps, got in Jall.)
Jumped in the river and went down deep,
There was a hundred pound cat-fish lying there asleep,
Well I jumped on his back and rode him all aroun'
Saddled him up and I came into town.
People came runnin', lookin', dogs a-barkin'
(Kids a-squallin').
Early one mornin' I took me a notion,
To go out fishin' in the middle of the ocean,
Well, throwed me a line, I got me a shark,
I didn't get him home till way past dark.
(Was he a man-eater, tough customer.
But he wasn't quite tough enough.)
Late last night I had me a dream,
I was out fishin' in a whiskey stream,
Baited my hook with apple-jack,
Threw out a drink, drug a gallon back.
(Done pretty good till the creek run dry.
I give the fish back to the finance company.)
Back in Nineteen Twenty-Seven,
I had a little farm and I called that heaven.
Well, the prices up and the rain come down,
And I hauled my crops all into town --
I got the money, bought clothes and groceries,
Fed the kids, and raised a family.
Rain quit and the wind got high,
And the black ol' dust storm filled the sky.
And I swapped my farm for a Ford machine,
And I poured it full of this gas-i-line --
And I started, rockin' an' a-rollin',
Over the mountains, out towards the old Peach Bowl.
Way up yonder on a mountain road,
I had a hot motor and a heavy load,
I's a-goin' pretty fast, there wasn't even stoppin',
A-bouncin' up and down, like popcorn poppin' --
Had a breakdown, sort of a nervous bustdown of some kind,
There was a feller there, a mechanic feller,
Said it was en-gine trouble.
Way up yonder on a mountain curve,
It's way up yonder in the piney wood,
An' I give that rollin' Ford a shove,
An' I's a-gonna coast as far as I could --
Commence coastin', pickin' up speed,
Was a hairpin turn, I didn't make it.
Man alive, I'm a-tellin' you,
The fiddles and the guitars really flew.
That Ford took off like a flying squirrel
An' it flew halfway around the world --
Scattered wives and childrens
All over the side of that mountain.
We got out to the West Coast broke,
So dad-gum hungry I thought I'd croak,
An' I bummed up a spud or two,
An' my wife fixed up a tater stew --
We poured the kids full of it,
Mighty thin stew, though,
You could read a magazine right through it.
Always have figured
That if it'd been just a little bit thinner,
Some of these here politicians
Coulda seen through it.
Back in Nineteen Twenty-Seven,
I had a little farm and I called that heaven.
Well, the prices up and the rain come down,
And I hauled my crops all into town --
I got the money, bought clothes and groceries,
Fed the kids, and raised a family.
Rain quit and the wind got high,
And the black ol' dust storm filled the sky.
And I swapped my farm for a Ford machine,
And I poured it full of this gas-i-line --
And I started, rockin' an' a-rollin',
Over the mountains, out towards the old Peach Bowl.
Way up yonder on a mountain road,
I had a hot motor and a heavy load,
I's a-goin' pretty fast, there wasn't even stoppin',
A-bouncin' up and down, like popcorn poppin' --
Had a breakdown, sort of a nervous bustdown of some kind,
There was a feller there, a mechanic feller,
Said it was en-gine trouble.
Way up yonder on a mountain curve,
It's way up yonder in the piney wood,
An' I give that rollin' Ford a shove,
An' I's a-gonna coast as far as I could --
Commence coastin', pickin' up speed,
Was a hairpin turn, I didn't make it.
Man alive, I'm a-tellin' you,
The fiddles and the guitars really flew.
That Ford took off like a flying squirrel
An' it flew halfway around the world --
Scattered wives and childrens
All over the side of that mountain.
We got out to the West Coast broke,
So dad-gum hungry I thought I'd croak,
An' I bummed up a spud or two,
An' my wife fixed up a tater stew --
We poured the kids full of it,
Mighty thin stew, though,
You could read a magazine right through it.
Always have figured
That if it'd been just a little bit thinner,
Some of these here politicians
Coulda seen through it.
Roll on, Columbia, roll on
Roll on, Columbia, roll on
Your power is turning our darkness to dawn
So roll on, Columbia, roll on
Green Douglas firs where the waters cut through
Down her wild mountains and canyons she flew
Canadian Northwest to the oceans so blue
Roll on Columbia, roll on
Other great rivers add power to you
Yakima, Snake, and the Klickitat, too
Sandy Willamette and Hood River too
So roll on, Columbia, roll on
Tom Jefferson's vision would not let him rest
An empire he saw in the Pacific Northwest
Sent Lewis and Clark and they did the rest
So roll on, Columbia, roll on
It's there on your banks that we fought many a fight
Sheridan's boys in the blockhouse that night
They saw us in death but never in flight
So roll on Columbia, roll on
At Bonneville now there are ships in the locks
The waters have risen and cleared all the rocks
Shiploads of plenty will steam past the docks
So roll on, Columbia, roll on
And on up the river is Grand Coulee Dam
The mightiest thing ever built by a man
To run the great factories and water the land
So roll on, Columbia, roll on
These mighty men labored by day and by night
Matching their strength 'gainst the river's wild flight
Through rapids and falls, they won the hard fight
So roll on, Columbia, roll on
Brrrm brm brm brm brm brm brm, brrrm b' brrrm,
Brrrm brm brm brm brm brm brrrm b' brrrm,
Brrrm brm brm brm brm brm brrrm b' brrrm.
Brrrm brm brm brm brm brm brrrm.
Take me riding in the car, car;
Take me riding in the car, car;
Take you riding in the car, car;
I'll take you riding in my car.
Click clack, open up the door, girls;
Click clack, open up the door, boys;
Front door, back door, clickety clack,
Take you riding in my car.
Climb, climb, rattle on the front seat;
Spree I spraddle on the backseat;
Turn my key, step on my starter,
Take you riding in my car.
Engine it goes boom, boom;
Engine it goes boom, boom;
Front seat, backseat, boys and girls,
Take you riding in my car.
Trees and the houses walk along;
Trees and the houses walk along;
Truck and a car and a garbage can,
Take you riding in my car.
Ships and the little boars chug along;
Ships and the little boats chug along;
Boom buhbuh boom boom boom buh boom,
Take you riding in my car.
I'm a gonna send you home again;
I'm a gonna send you home again;
Boom, boom, buhbuh boom, rolling home,
Take you riding in my car.
I'm a gonna let You blow the horn;
I'm a gonna let you blow the horn;
A oorah, a oorah, a oogah, oogah,
I'll take you riding in my car.
Ramblin' around your city,
Ramblin' around your town,
I never see a friend I know
As I go ramblin' 'round boys,
As I go ramblin' 'round.
I make the fruit and harvest
And follow them up and down,
But I caint save a nickel,
As I go ramblin' 'round boys,
As I go ramblin' 'round.
The peach trees they are loaded,
The limbs are bending down,
I pick 'em all day for a dollar,
As I go a ramblin' 'round boys,
As I go a ramblin' 'round.
Sometimes the fruit gets rotten
And falls upon the ground,
There's a hungry mouth for every peach
As I go a ramblin' 'round boys,
As I go a ramblin' 'round.
I wish that I could marry,
So I could settle down,
But I caint save a penny
As I go a ramblin' 'round boys,
As I go a ramblin' 'round.
My mother prayed that I would be
A man of some renown,
But I'm just a railroad bum
As I go a ramblin' 'round boys,
As I go a ramblin' 'round.
My sister and my brother
Would both be mighty proud
If I could get a job of work
And quit this ramblin' 'round boys,
And quit this ramblin' 'round.
I'll race you down the moun-tain,
I'll race you down the moun-tain,
I'll race you down the moun-tain,
We'll see who gets there first.
Let's run and jump the riv-er,
Let's run and jump the riv-er,
Let's run and jump the riv-er,
We'll see who gets there first.
I hear myself a-huffin',
A-huffin' and a-puffin',
I hear myself a-huffin',
We'll see who gets there first.
We'll rest beside the water,
We'll rest beside the water,
We'll rest beside the water,
We'll see who gets there first.
Put your finger in the air, in the air.
Put your finger in the air, in the air.
Put your finger in the air, and hold it right up there.
Put your finger in the air, in the air.
Put your finger on your cheek, on your cheek.
Put your finger on your cheek, on your cheek.
Put your finger on your cheek, leave it there a week.
Put your finger on your cheek, on your cheek.
Put your finger on your nose, on your nose.
Put your finger on your nose, on your nose.
Put your finger on your nose, and see if it grows.
Put your finger on your nose, on your nose.
Put your finger on your ear, on your ear.
Put your finger on your ear, on your ear.
Put your finger on your ear, and leave it there a year.
Put your finger on your ear, on your ear.
Put your finger on your finger, on your finger.
Put your finger on your finger, on your finger.
Put your finger on your finger, leave it there, let it linger.
Put your finger on your finger, on your finger.
I ain't got no home, I'm just a-roamin' 'round,
Just a wandrin' worker, I go from town to town.
And the police make it hard wherever I may go
And I ain't got no home in this world anymore.
My brothers and my sisters are stranded on this road,
A hot and dusty road that a million feet have trod;
Rich man took my home and drove me from my door
And I ain't got no home in this world anymore.
Was a-farmin' on the shares, and always I was poor;
My crops I lay into the banker's store.
My wife took down and died upon the cabin floor,
And I ain't got no home in this world anymore.
I mined in your mines and I gathered in your corn
I been working, mister, since the day I was born
Now I worry all the time like I never did before
'Cause I ain't got no home in this world anymore
Now as I look around, it's mighty plain to see
This world is such a great and a funny place to be;
Oh, the gamblin' man is rich an' the workin' man is poor,
And I ain't got no home in this world anymore.
If you'll gather 'round me, children,
A story I will tell
'Bout Pretty Boy Floyd, an outlaw,
Oklahoma knew him well.
It was in the town of Shawnee,
A Saturday afternoon,
His wife beside him in his wagon
As into town they rode.
There a deputy sheriff approached him
In a manner rather rude,
Vulgar words of anger,
An' his wife she overheard.
Pretty Boy grabbed a log chain,
And the deputy grabbed his gun;
In the fight that followed
He laid that deputy down.
Then he took to the trees and timber
To live a life of shame;
Every crime in Oklahoma
Was added to his name.
But a many a starving farmer
The same old story told
How the outlaw paid their mortgage
And saved their little homes.
Others tell you 'bout a stranger
That come to beg a meal,
Underneath his napkin
Left a thousand dollar bill.
It was in Oklahoma City,
It was on a Christmas Day,
There was a whole car load of groceries
Come with a note to say:
Well, you say that I'm an outlaw,
You say that I'm a thief.
Here's a Christmas dinner
For the families on relief.
Yes, as through this world I've wandered
I've seen lots of funny men;
Some will rob you with a six-gun,
And some with a fountain pen.
And as through your life you travel,
Yes, as through your life you roam,
You won't never see an outlaw
Drive a family from their home.
Well I walked down to the railroad yard
T' watch a train roll by
Knew the train would roll that day
But I did not know what time
No I did not know what time, poor boy
Did not know what time
I knew the train would run that day
But I did not know what time
"Good morning Mr. Railroad Man
What time does your train roll by?"
"Nine-sixteen n' two-forty-four,
twenty-five minutes 'til five."
At nine-sixteen, two-forty-four,
twenty-five minutes 'til five.
"Thank you Mr. Railroad Man
I wanna watch your train roll by."
I'm standing on a platform
Smoking a big cigar
Waiting for some old freight train
Carrying an empty car
I rode her down to Danville town
Got stuck on a Danville girl
You bet your life she was a pearl
She wore that Danville curl
She wore her hat on the back of her head
Like high told people all do
The very next train come down that track
Well I bid that gal adieu
I bid that gal adieu, poor boys
An' I bid that gal adieu
The very next train come down that track
Well I bid that gal adieu
Guthrie, Woody
"Pick It Up" from Songs to Grow On for Mother and Child
I dropped my thumb, pick it up, pick it up (x3)
And put it back with my fingers
I dropped my candy, pick it up, pick it up (x3)
And throw it away in the garbage
Pick, pick, pick, pick it up, pick it up (x4)
I dropped my dolly, pick it up, pick it up (x3)
And lay her down in her cradle
I dropped my shoe, pick it up, pick it up (x3)
And put it with my other shoe
I dropped my head, pick it up, pick it up (x3)
And put it back on my shoulders
Pick, pick, pick, pick it up, pick it up (x8)
Way out in Reno, Nevada,
Where romance blooms and fades,
A great Philadelphia lawyer
Was in love with a Hollywood maid.
"Come, love, and we'll go ramblin'
Down where the lights are so bright.
I'll win you a divorce from your husband,
And we can get married tonight."
Wild Bill was a gun-totin' cowboy,
Ten notches were carved in his gun.
And all the boys around Reno
Left Wild Bill's maiden alone.
One night when Bill was returning
From ridin' the range in the cold,
He dreamed of his Hollywood sweetheart,
Her love was as lasting as gold.
As he drew near her window,
Two shadows he saw on the shade;
'Twas the great Philadelphia lawyer
Makin' love to Bill's Hollywood maid.
The night was as still as the desert,
The moon hangin' high overhead.
Bill listened awhile through the window,
He could hear ev'ry word that he said:
"Your hands are so pretty and lovely,
Your form's so rare and divine.
Come go with me to the city
And leave this wild cowboy behind."
Now tonight back in old Pennsylvania,
Among those beautiful pines,
There's one less Philadelphia lawyer
In old Philadelphia tonight.
It's a mighty hard row that my poor hands have hoed
My poor feet have traveled a hot dusty road
Out of your Dust Bowl and Westward we rolled
And your deserts were hot and your mountains were cold
I worked in your orchards of peaches and prunes
I slept on the ground in the light of the moon
On the edge of the city you'll see us and then
We come with the dust and we go with the wind
California, Arizona, I harvest your crops
Well its North up to Oregon to gather your hops
Dig the beets from your ground, cut the grapes from your vine
To set on your table your light sparkling wine
Green pastures of plenty from dry desert ground
From the Grand Coulee Dam where the waters run down
Every state in the Union us migrants have been
We'll work in this fight and we'll fight till we win
It's always we rambled, that river and I
All along your green valley, I will work till I die
My land I'll defend with my life if it be
Cause my pastures of plenty must always be free
there's a valley in spain called Jarama
its a place that we all know so well
it was there that we fought against the fascists
we saw a peacful valey turn to hell
from this valley they say we are going
but dont hasten to bid us adue
even though we lost the battle at jarama
we'll set this valley free before we're through
we were men of a laken battelion
we're proud of the fight that we made
we know that you people love the valley
we're remember a laken vrigade
from this valley they say we are going
but dont hasten to bid us adue
even though we lost the battle at jarama
we'll set this valley free before we're through
you will never find peace with these fascists
you'll never find friends such as we
so remember that valley iof jarama
and the people that'll set that valley free
from this valley they say we are going
but dont hasten to bid us adue
even though we lost the battle at jarama
we'll set this valley free before we're through
all this world is like this valley called jarama
so green and so bright and so fair
no fascists can dwell in our valley
nor breathe in our new freedoms air
from this valley they say we are going
but dont hasten to bid us adue
even though we lost the battle at jarama
we'll set this valley free before we're through
I've been a grubbin on a little farm
on the flat and windy plains
I've been listening to hungry cattle bowl
I'm gonna pack my wife and kids
I'm gonna hit that western road
I'm gonna hit that Oregon Trail this coming fall
Chorus:
I'm gonna hit that Oregon Trail this coming fall
hit that Oregon Trail this coming fall
Where the good rain falls a plenty
and the crops and orchards grow
I'm gonna hit that Oregon Trail this coming fall
Well, my land is dry and cracklin
and my chickens they're a cacklin'
cause the dirt and dust is gettin in their craw
they been layin flint rock eggs
I had to bust em with a sledge
I'm gonna hit that Oregon Trail this coming fall
Repeat Chorus
Well, my hogs and pigs are squeelin'
They're a rockin and a reelin
Cause there ain't no water to water in the draw
I'm gonna grab one by his tail
I'm gonna take that western trail
And we'll hit that Oregon Trail this coming fall
Now, my good old horse is boney
Yes he's dry and hungry too
You can see his ribs three-quarters of a mile
Throw my kids up on his back
bend the bay horse and them black (?)
And we'll hit that Oregon Trail this coming fall
Repeat Chorus
Well my wife gets sort of ailin
When that mean old dust is sailin
And she wishes for the days beyond recall
If the work there's in the future
in that north Pacific land
So we'll hit that Oregon Trail this coming fall
Repeat Chorus
1 day 2 days 3 days old
4 days 5 days 6 days old
7 days 8 days 9 days old
10 days 20 days no days old
I’m a little baby one day old
I’m a little sweet thing two days old
I’m a little doodlebug 3 days old
I’m a little cutie pie 4 days old
It’s 1 day 2 days 3 days old
4 days 5 days 6 days old
7 days 8 days 9 days old
10 days 20 days no days old
I’m a little baby 5 days old
I’m a little chipmunk 6 days old
I’m a little jay-bird 7 days old
And I’m a little angel 8 days old
It’s 1 day 2 days 3 days old
4 days 5 days 6 days old
7 days 8 days 9 days old
10 days 20 days no days old
I’m a little baby 9 days old
I’m a little kitty cat 10 days old
I’m a little flower 11 days old
And I’m a little sugar-plum 12 days old
It’s 1 day 2 days 3 days old
4 days 5 days 6 days old
7 days 8 days 9 days old
10 days 20 days no days old
I’m a little baby a few days old
I’m a little snick-snack some days old
I’m a little jabber-talker 11 days old
And I’m a little butterfly one minute old
It’s 1 day 2 days 3 days old
4 days 5 days 6 days old
7 days 8 days 9 days old
10 days 20 days no days old
1 day 2 days 3 days old
4 days 5 days 6 days old
7 days 8 days 9 days old
10 days 20 days no days old
Instru
I put my dolly's dress on
And she looks like this
I put my dolly's pants on
And she looks like this
I put my dolly's hat on
And she looks like this
There's more pretty girls than one
more pretty girls than one
every town I ramble 'round
more pretty girls than one
Look down that railroad line
see the train roll by
train rolls by with the woman I Love
and I Hung my head and cried
Look out across that sea
see the breakers well
how many a love is washed away
no human tongue can tell
I'm the meanest man that ever had a brain,
All I scatter is aches and pains.
I'm carbolic acid, and a poison face,
And I stand flat-footed in favor of crime and disgrace.
If I ever done a good deed -- I'm sorry of it.
I'm mean in the East, mean in the West,
Mean to the people that I like the best.
I go around a-causin' lot of accidents,
And I push folks down, and I cause train wrecks.
I'm a big disaster -- just goin' somewhere's to happen.
I'm an organized famine -- studyin' now I can be a little bit meaner.
I'm still a whole lot too good to suit myself -- just mean...
I ride around on the subway trains,
Laughin' at the tight shoes dealin' you pain.
And I laugh when the car shakes from side to side,
I laugh my loudest when other people cry.
Can't help it -- I was born good, I guess,
Just like you or anybody else ---
But then I... just turned off mean..
I hate ev'rybody don't think like me,
And I'd rather see you dead than I'd ever see you free.
Rather see you starved to death
Than see you at work --
And I'm readin' all the books I can
To learn how to hurt --
Daily Misery -- spread diseases,
Keep you without no vote,
Keep you without no union.
Well, I hurt when I see you gettin' 'long so well,
I'd ten times rather see you in the fires of hell.
I can't stand to fixed... see you there all fixed up in that house so nice,
I'd rather keep you in that rotten hole, with the bugs and the lice,
And the roaches, and the termites,
And the sand fleas, and the tater bugs,
And the grub worms, and the stingarees,
And the tarantulas, and the spiders, childs of the earth,
The ticks and the blow-flies --
These is all of my little angels
That go 'round helpin' me do the best parts of my meanness.
And mosquiters...
Well, I used to be a pretty fair organized feller,
Till I turned a scab and then I turned off yeller,
Fought ev'ry union with teeth and toenail,
And I sprouted a six-inch stinger right in the middle of the tail,
And I growed horns...
And then I cut 'em off, I wanted to fool you.
I hated union ever'where,
'Cause God likes unions
And I hate God!
Well, if I can get the fat to hatin' the lean
That'd tickle me more than anything I've seen,
Then get the colors to fightin' one another,
And friend against friend, and brother... and sister against brother,
That'll be just it.
Everybody's brains a-boilin' in turpentine,
And their teeth fallin' out all up and down the streets,
That'll just suit me fine.
'Cause I hate ever'thing that's union,
And I hate ever'thing that's organized,
And I hate ever'thing that's planned,
And I love to hate and I hate to love!
I'm mean, I'm just mean...
Jackhammer Jackhammer
Where you been
Been out chasin them
Gals again
Ho ho ho Well I got them
See my woman
When the sun goes down
Grab my hammer
And go to town
Yes Folks
I got them Jackhammer blues
Made every state in the
red white and blue
Looking for a jackhammer job to do
Rise easy
I got them
Jackhammer blues
Got a Jackhammer woman
Just as sweet as pie
Gonna
Hammer on the hammer
Till the day I die
Lord God have mercy
I got them
Jackhammer Blues
It was early springtime that the strike was on
They moved us miners out of doors
Out from the houses that the company owned
We moved into tents at old Ludlow
I was worried bad about my children
Soldiers guarding the railroad bridge
Every once in a while a bullet would fly
Kick up gravel under my feet
We were so afraid they would kill our children
We dug us a cave that was seven foot deep
Carried our young ones and a pregnant woman
Down inside the cave to sleep
That very night you soldier waited
Until us miners were asleep
You snuck around our little tent town
Soaked our tents with your kerosene
You struck a match and the blaze it started
You pulled the triggers of your gatling guns
I made a run for the children but the fire wall stopped me
Thirteen children died from your guns
I carried my blanket to a wire fence corner
Watched the fire till the blaze died down
I helped some people grab their belongings
While your bullets killed us all around
I will never forget the looks on the faces
Of the men and women that awful day
When we stood around to preach their funerals
And lay the corpses of the dead away
We told the Colorado governor to call the President
Tell him to call off his National Guard
But the National Guard belong to the governor
So he didn't try so very hard
Our women from Trinidad they hauled some potatoes
Up to Walsenburg in a little cart
They sold their potatoes and brought some guns back
And put a gun in every hand
The state soldiers jumped us in a wire fence corner
They did not know that we had these guns
And the red neck miners mowed down them troopers
You should have seen those poor boys run
We took some cement and walled that cave up
Where you killed those thirteen children inside
I said, "God bless the Mine Workers' Union"
And then I hung my head and cried
Take my little hoe, dig a hole in the ground
Take my little seed and I plant it down;
Tooky, tooky, tooky, tooky, tidalo,
We'll all dance around and see my little seed grow.
CHORUS:
Tooky, tooky, tooky, tooky, tidalo,
Tooky, tooky, tooky, tooky, tidalo,
Let's all dance around and see my little seed grow.
The rain it come and it washed my ground
I thought my little seed was going to drown
I waded and I splashed and I carried my seed
I planted it again on some higher ground.
Chorus
The sun got hot and my ground got dry.
I thought my little seed would burn and dir.
I carried some water from a watering mill,
I said, "Little, you can drink your fill."
Chorus
The snow it blowed and the wind it blew;
My little seed grew and it grew and it grew.
It grew up a cradle all soft inside;
And a baby was sleeping there covered over with vines
John Henry when he was a baby
settin' on his mammy's knee
picked up an hammer in his little right hand
Said "Hammer be the death of me me me,
hammer be the death of me!"
Some say he's born in Texas
Some say he's born up in Maine
I just say he was a Louisiana man
Leader of a steel-driving chain gang
leader on a steel-driving gang
"Well", the captain said to John Henry
"I'm gonna bring my steam drill around
gonna whup that steel on down down down
whup that steel on down!"
John Henry said to the captain (what he say?)
"You can bring your steam drill around
gonna bring my steam drill out on the job
I'll beat your steam drill down down down
beat your steam drill down!"
John Henry said to his Shaker
"Shaker you had better pray
If you miss your six feet of steel
It'll be your buryin' day day day
It'll be your buryin' day!"
Now the Shaker said to John Henry
"Man ain't nothing but a man
but before I'd let that steam drill beat me down
I'd die with an hammer in my hand hand hand
I'd die with an hammer in my hand!"
John Henry had a little woman
Her name was Polly Anne
John Henry took sick and was laid up in bed
While Polly handled steel like a man man man
Polly handled steel like a man.
They took John Henry to the graveyard
laid him down in the sand
Every locomotive comin' a-rolling by by by
hollered "there lies a steel-drivin' man man man
there lies a steel-drivin' man!"
Well, I went to the dance and the animals come,
Jaybird danced with horse-shoes on.
Grasshopper danced till he fell on the floor
Jig along, jig along, jig along home.
Chorus:
Jig jiga jig jiga jig along home,
Jig jiga jig jiga jig along home.
Jig along, jig along, jig along home,
Jig jiga jig jiga jig along home.
Centipede danced with the big giraffe,
Spider danced with the rattlesnake,
Elephant danced with the scorpio,
Jig along, jig along, jig along home.
Fishing worm done the fishing reel,
Lobster danced on the peacock's tail,
Baboon danced with the rising moon,
Jig along, jig along, jig along home.
And the rooster cut his weevily wheat,
The catfish tromped the cuckoo's feet,
The ostrich stomped with the kangaroo,
Jig along, jig along, jig along home.
Mama rat took off her hat,
Shook the house with the old tom cat,
The alligator beat his tail on the drum,
Jig along, jig along, jig along home.
The boards did rattle and the house did shake,
The clouds did laugh and the world did quake,
New moon rattled some silver spoons,
Jig along, jig along, jig along home.
The nails flew loose and the floors broke down,
Everybody danced around and around,
The house come down and the crowd went home,
Jig along, jig along, jig along home.
Hard, ain't it hard, ain't it hard
To love one who never did love you
Hard, ain't it hard, ain't it hard great god
To love one that never would be true
It was late last night when my true love came home
He was a-knockin' on my door
I got up in a fit of jealousy and I said
True love, don't come here anymore
Hard, ain't it hard, ain't it hard
To love one who never did love you
Hard, ain't it hard, ain't it hard great god
To love one that never would be true
The first time I seen my true love
He was a-knockin' at my door
The last time I seen his hard-hearted smile
He was lyin' dead on the floor
Hard, ain't it hard, ain't it hard
To love one who never did love you
Hard, ain't it hard, ain't it hard great god
To love one that never would be true
Don't go to drinkin' and gamblin'
Don't go there your sorrows to drown
This hard liquor place is a low-down disgrace
It's the meanest bad place in this town
Hard, ain't it hard, ain't it hard
To love one who never did love you
Hard, ain't it hard, ain't it hard great god
To love one that never would be true
I've been havin' some hard travelin', I thought you knowed
I've been havin' some hard travelin', way down the road
I've been havin' some hard travelin', hard ramblin', hard gamblin'
I've been havin' some hard travelin', lord
I've been ridin' them fast rattlers, I thought you knowed
I've been ridin' them flat wheelers, way down the road
I've been ridin' them blind passengers, dead-enders, kickin' up cinders
I've been havin' some hard travelin', lord
I've been hittin' some hard-rock minin', I thought you knowed
I've been leanin' on a pressure drill, way down the road
Hammer flyin', air-hole suckin', six foot of mud and I shore been a muckin'
And I've been hittin' some hard travelin', lord
I've been hittin' some hard harvestin', I thought you knowed
North Dakota to Kansas City, way down the road
Cuttin' that wheat, stackin' that hay, and I'm tryin' make about a dollar a day
And I've been havin' some hard travelin', lord
I've been working that Pittsburgh steel, I thought you knowed
I've been a dumpin' that red-hot slag, way down the road
I've been a blasting, I've been a firin', I've been a pourin' red-hot iron
I've been hittin' some hard travelin', lord
I've been layin' in a hard-rock jail, I thought you knowed
I've been a laying out 90 days, way down the road
Damned old judge, he said to me, "It's 90 days for vagrancy."
And I've been hittin' some hard travelin', lord
I've been walking that Lincoln highway, I thought you knowed,
I've been hittin' that 66, way down the road
Heavy load and a worried mind, lookin' for a woman that's hard to find,
I've been hittin' some hard travelin', lord
Did you ever see a hangman tie a hangknot?
Did you ever see a hangman tie a hangknot?
I've seen it many a time and he winds, he winds,
After thirteen times he's got a hangknot.
Tell me will that hangknot slip, no it will not,
Will that hangknot slip, no it will not.
Slip around your neck, but it won't slip back again
Hangknot, hangknot, that hangknot.
Did you ever lose your father on a hangknot?
Did you ever lose your father on a hangknot?
They hung him from a pole, and they shot him full of holes,
Left him there to rot on that hangknot.
Tell me who makes the laws for that hangknot?
Who makes the laws for that hangknot?
Who says who will go to the calaboose?
Get the hangman's noose on a hangknot.
I don't know who makes the law for that hangknot.
I don't know who makes the law for that hangknot.
But the bones of many a men are whistling in the wind,
Just because they tied their laws with a hangknot.
Instru
I'm blowin' down this old dusty road,
I'm a-blowin' down this old dusty road,
I'm a-blowin' down this old dusty road, Lord, Lord,
An' I ain't a-gonna be treated this a-way.
I'm a-goin' where the water taste like wine,
I'm a-goin' where the water taste like wine,
I'm a-goin' where the water taste like wine, Lord,
An' I ain't a-gonna be treated this way.
I'm a-goin' where the dust storms never blow,
I'm a-goin' where them dust storms never blow,
I'm a-goin' where them dust storms never blow, blow, blow,
An' I ain't a-gonna be treated this way.
They say I'm a dust bowl refugee,
Yes, they say I'm a dust bowl refugee,
They say I'm a dust bowl refugee, Lord, Lord,
An' I ain't a-gonna be treated this way.
I'm a-lookin' for a job at honest pay,
I'm a-lookin' for a job at honest pay,
I'm a-lookin' for a job at honest pay, Lord, Lord,
An' I ain't a-gonna be treated this way.
My children need three square meals a day,
Now, my children need three square meals a day,
My children need three square meals a day, Lord,
An' I ain't a-gonna be treated this way.
It takes a ten-dollar shoe to fit my feet,
It takes a ten-dollar shoe to fit my feet,
It takes a ten-dollar shoe to fit my feet, Lord, Lord,
An' I ain't a-gonna be treated this way.
Your a-two-dollar shoe hurts my feet,
Your two-dollar shoe hurts my feet,
Yes, your two-dollar shoe hurts my feet, Lord, Lord,
An' I ain't a-gonna be treated this way.
I'm a-goin' down this old dusty road,
I'm blowin' down this old dusty road,
I'm a-blowin' down this old dusty road, Lord, Lord,
An' I ain't a-gonna be treated this way.
I'm a dust bowl refugee,
Just a dust bowl refugee,
From that dust bowl to the peach bowl,
Now that peach fuzz is a-killin' me.
'Cross the mountains to the sea,
Come the wife and kids and me.
It's a hot old dusty highway
For a dust bowl refugee.
Hard, it's always been that way,
Here today and on our way
Down that mountain, 'cross the desert,
Just a dust bowl refugee.
We are ramblers, so they say,
We are only here today,
Then we travel with the seasons,
We're the dust bowl refugees.
From the south land and the drought land,
Come the wife and kids and me,
And this old world is a hard world
For a dust bowl refugee.
Yes, we ramble and we roam
And the highway that's our home,
It's a never-ending highway
For a dust bowl refugee.
Yes, we wander and we work
In your crops and in your fruit,
Like the whirlwinds on the desert
That's the dust bowl refugees.
I'm a dust bowl refugee,
I'm a dust bowl refugee,
And I wonder will I always
Be a dust bowl refugee?
I'm blowin' down this old dusty road,
I'm a-blowin' down this old dusty road,
I'm a-blowin' down this old dusty road, Lord, Lord,
An' I ain't a-gonna be treated this a-way.
I'm a-goin' where the water taste like wine,
I'm a-goin' where the water taste like wine,
I'm a-goin' where the water taste like wine, Lord,
An' I ain't a-gonna be treated this way.
I'm a-goin' where the dust storms never blow,
I'm a-goin' where them dust storms never blow,
I'm a-goin' where them dust storms never blow, blow, blow,
An' I ain't a-gonna be treated this way.
They say I'm a dust bowl refugee,
Yes, they say I'm a dust bowl refugee,
They say I'm a dust bowl refugee, Lord, Lord,
An' I ain't a-gonna be treated this way.
I'm a-lookin' for a job at honest pay,
I'm a-lookin' for a job at honest pay,
I'm a-lookin' for a job at honest pay, Lord, Lord,
An' I ain't a-gonna be treated this way.
My children need three square meals a day,
Now, my children need three square meals a day,
My children need three square meals a day, Lord,
An' I ain't a-gonna be treated this way.
It takes a ten-dollar shoe to fit my feet,
It takes a ten-dollar shoe to fit my feet,
It takes a ten-dollar shoe to fit my feet, Lord, Lord,
An' I ain't a-gonna be treated this way.
Your a-two-dollar shoe hurts my feet,
Your two-dollar shoe hurts my feet,
Yes, your two-dollar shoe hurts my feet, Lord, Lord,
An' I ain't a-gonna be treated this way.
I'm a-goin' down this old dusty road,
I'm blowin' down this old dusty road,
I'm a-blowin' down this old dusty road, Lord, Lord,
An' I ain't a-gonna be treated this way.
Oh, little doggies,
It's your misfortune and not of my own.
Whoop-ee-ti-yi-o get along little doggies,
You know that Wyoming will be your new home.
A cattle trail drunk and a hard road to travel,
That old Jack O' Diamonds is a hard card to play.
Get along, get along, get along little doggies,
Get along little doggies and be on your way.
Whoop-ee-ti-yi-o get along little doggies,
It's your misfortune and not of my own.
Whoop-ee-ti-yi-o get along little doggies,
You know that Wyoming will be your new home.
Some boys have bit this old cow trail for pleasure,
But that's where they get it most awfully wrong.
I wish I could tell you the troubles they give us,
As we go rolling these doggies along.
Whoop-ee-ti-yi-o get along little doggies,
It's your misfortune and not of my own.
Whoop-ee-ti-yi-o get along little doggies,
You know that Wyoming will be your new home.
I've sung this song, but I'll sing it again,
Of the place that I lived on the wild windy plains,
In the month called April, county called Gray,
And here's what all of the people there say:
So long, it's been good to know yuh;
So long, it's been good to know yuh;
So long, it's been good to know yuh.
This dusty old dust is a-gettin' my home,
And I got to be driftin' along.
A dust storm hit, an' it hit like thunder;
It dusted us over, an' it covered us under;
Blocked out the traffic an' blocked out the sun,
Straight for home all the people did run,
Singin':
We talked of the end of the world, and then
We'd sing a song an' then sing it again.
We'd sit for an hour an' not say a word,
And then these words would be heard:
Sweethearts sat in the dark and sparked,
They hugged and kissed in that dusty old dark.
They sighed and cried, hugged and kissed,
Instead of marriage, they talked like this:
"Honey..."
Now, the telephone rang, an' it jumped off the wall,
That was the preacher, a-makin' his call.
He said, "Kind friend, this may the end;
An' you got your last chance of salvation of sin!"
The churches was jammed, and the churches was packed,
An' that dusty old dust storm blowed so black.
Preacher could not read a word of his text,
An' he folded his specs, an' he took up collection,
Said:
I got that dust pneumony, pneumony in my lung,
I got the dust pneumony, pneumony in my lung,
An' I'm a-gonna sing this dust pneumony song.
I went to the doctor, and the doctor, said, "My son,"
I went to the doctor, and the doctor, said, "My son,
You got that dust pneumony an' you ain't got long, not long."
Now there ought to be some yodelin' in this song;
Yeah, there ought to be some yodelin' in this song;
But I can't yodel for the rattlin' in my lung.
My good gal sings the dust pneumony blues,
My good gal sings the dust pneumony blues,
She loves me 'cause she's got the dust pneumony, too.
It it wasn't for choppin' my hoe would turn to rust,
If it wasn't for choppin' my hoe would turn to rust,
I can't find a woman in this black ol' Texas dust.
Down in Oklahoma, the wind blows mighty strong,
Down in Oklahoma, the wind blows mighty strong,
If you want to get a mama, just sing a California song.
Down in Texas, my gal fainted in the rain,
Down in Texas, my gal fainted in the rain,
I throwed a bucket o' dirt in her face just to bring her back again.
That old dust storm killed my baby,
But it can't kill me, Lord
And it can't kill me.
That old dust storm killed my family,
But it can't kill me, Lord
And it can't kill me.
That old landlord got my homestead,
But he can't get me, Lord,
And he can't get me.
That old dry spell killed my crop, boys,
But it can't kill me, Lord
And it can't kill me.
That old tractor got my home, boys,
But it can't get me, Lord
And it can't get me.
That old tractor run my house down,
But it can't get me down,
And it can't get me.
That old pawn shop got my furniture,
But it can't get me, Lord,
And it can't get me.
That old highway's got my relatives,
But it can't get me, Lord,
And it can't get me.
That old dust might kill my wheat, boys,
But it can't kill me, Lord
And it can't kill me.
I have weathered a-many a dust storm,
But it can't get me, boys,
And it can't kill me.
That old dust storm, well, it blowed my barn down,
But it can't blow me down,
And it can't blow me down.
That old wind might blow this world down,
But it can't blow me down,
It can't kill me.
That old dust storm's killed my baby,
But it can't kill me, Lord
And it can't kill me.
I just blowed in, and I got them dust bowl blues,
I just blowed in, and I got them dust bowl blues,
I just blowed in, and I'll blow back out again.
I guess you've heard about ev'ry kind of blues,
I guess you've heard about ev'ry kind of blues,
But when the dust gets high, you can't even see the sky.
I've seen the dust so black that I couldn't see a thing,
I've seen the dust so black that I couldn't see a thing,
And the wind so cold, boy, it nearly cut your water off.
I seen the wind so high that it blowed my fences down,
I've seen the wind so high that it blowed my fences down,
Buried my tractor six feet underground.
Well, it turned my farm into a pile of sand,
Yes, it turned my farm into a pile of sand,
I had to hit that road with a bottle in my hand.
I spent ten years down in that old dust bowl,
I spent ten years down in that old dust bowl,
When you get that dust pneumony, boy, it's time to go.
I had a gal, and she was young and sweet,
I had a gal, and she was young and sweet,
But a dust storm buried her sixteen hundred feet.
She was a good gal, long, tall and stout,
Yes, she was a good gal, long, tall and stout,
I had to get a steam shovel just to dig my darlin' out.
These dusty blues are the dustiest ones I know,
These dusty blues are the dustiest ones I know,
Buried head over heels in the black old dust,
I had to pack up and go.
An' I just blowed in, an' I'll soon blow out again.
Chorus:
Don't you push me, push me, push me,
Don't you push me down.
Don't you push me, push me, push me,
Don't you push me down.
You can play with me,
You can take my hand,
We can skip together
Down to the pretzel stand.
You can wear my mommy's shoes,
You can wear my daddy's hat,
You can even get mad at me,
But don't you push me down.
Chorus
You can play with me,
We can build a house,
You can take my ball,
And bounce it up and down.
You can take my skates,
And ride them all around,
You can even get mad at me,
But don't you push me down.
Chorus
You can play with me,
We can play all day,
You can use may use my dishes,
If you put them away.
You can feed me apples,
Oranges and Plum,.
You can even wash my face,
But don't you push me down.
Chorus
Lots of folks back East, they say, is leavin' home every day,
Beatin' the hot old dusty way to the California line.
'Cross the desert sands they roll, gettin' out of that old dust bowl,
They think they're goin' to a sugar bowl, but here's what they find
Now, the police at the port of entry say,
"You're number fourteen thousand for today."
Oh, if you ain't got the do re mi, folks, you ain't got the do re mi,
Why, you better go back to beautiful Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Georgia, Tennessee.
California is a garden of Eden, a paradise to live in or see;
But believe it or not, you won't find it so hot
If you ain't got the do re mi.
You want to buy you a home or a farm, that can't deal nobody harm,
Or take your vacation by the mountains or sea.
Don't swap your old cow for a car, you better stay right where you are,
Better take this little tip from me.
'Cause I look through the want ads every day
But the headlines on the papers always say:
If you ain't got the do re mi, boys, you ain't got the do re mi,
Why, you better go back to beautiful Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Georgia, Tennessee.
California is a garden of Eden, a paradise to live in or see;
But believe it or not, you won't find it so hot
If you ain't got the do re mi.
I went down to the railroad yard, watch that train come by,
Knew the train would roll that day, but I did not know what time.
I did not know what time, boys, did not know what time.
Knew the train would roll that day but I did not know what time.
Good morning Mister Railroad Man, what time does your train roll by?
Nine-sixteen and two-forty-four, twenty-five minutes 'til five.
At nine-sixteen, two-forty-four, twenty-five minutes 'til five.
Thank you Mister Railroad Man, I wanna watch your train roll by.
Standing on the platform, smoking a big cigar,
Waitin' for some old freight train that carries an empty car.
I rode her down to Danville Town, got stuck on a Danville girl,
Bet your life she was a pearl, she wore that Danville curl.
She wore her hat on the back of her head like high-tone people all do,
Very next train come down taht track, I bid that girl adieu.
I bid that girl adieu, poor boys, I bid that girl adieu,
The very next train come down that track, I bid that girl adieu.
Way down in Columbus Georgia
Lord I wish I was back in Tennessee
Way down in that old Columbus Stockade
My friends all have turned their back on me.
Go and leave me if you wish to
Never let me cross your mind
In your heart you love another
Leave me, little darling, I don't mind
Many a night with you I've rambled
Honey, countless hours with you I've spent
Thought I had your sweet love and your little heart forever
But I find it was only lent.
Go and leave me if you wish to
Never let me cross your mind
If in your heart you love another
Leave me, little darling, I don't mind
Last night as I lay sleeping
Oh, I dreamd that I was you in my arms
When I woke I was mistaken
Lord, I was still behind these bars
Go and leave me if you wish to
Never let me cross your mind
If in your heart you love another
Leave me, little darling, I don't mind
Lord, I've got the walking blues
Oh mama oh mama,
Come wash my face 3x 2x
And make it nice, and clean-O
Oh brother oh brother,
Come scrub my back 3x 2x
And scrub it nice and clean-O
Oh daddy oh daddy
Come shine my shoes 3x 2x
And polish them nice and clean-O
Oh sweetie oh sweetie
Come smell me now, 3x 2x
I smell so nice and clean-O
Oh clean oh clean, oh clean oh clean,
Oh clean oh clean, oh clean oh clean
Oh rub dub dubbity, and a scrub scrub scrubbity,
I smell so nice, and clean-O
Oh, bury me beneath the willow
Under the weeping willow tree
So she will know where I am sleeping
And perhaps she'll weep for me
My heart is sad I am lonely
For the only one I love
When shall I see her oh no never
'Til we meet in heaven above
She told me that she dearly loved me
How could I believe it untrue
Until the angels softly whispered
She will prove untrue to you
Tomorrow was to be our wedding
God oh God where can she be
She's out a courting with another
And no longer cares for me
Come all you old time cowboys,
And listen to my song,
Please do not grow weary,
I'll not detain you long.
Concerning some wild cowboys,
Who did agree to go,
Spend the summer pleasant,
On the trail of the Buffalo.
I found myself in Griffin,
In the spring of '83,
When a well known famous drover,
Came walking up to me.
Said, "How do you do, young fellow,
Well how would you like to go,
And spend the summer pleasant,
On the trail of the Buffalo?"
Well I being out of work right then,
To the drover I did say,
"Going out on the Buffalo Road,
Depends on the pay.
If you will pay good wages,
And transportation to and fro,
I think I might go with you,
On the hunt of the Buffalo."
"Of course I'll pay good wages,
And transportation too,
If you will agree to work for me,
Until the season's through."
But if you do get homesick,
And try to run away,
You will starve to death,
Out on the trail and also lose your pay."
Well with all his flattering talking,
He signed up quite a train,
Some 10 or 12 in number,
Some able bodied men.
The trip it was a pleasant one,
As we hit the westward road,
Until we crossed old Boggy Creek,
In old New Mexico.
There our pleasures ended,
And our troubles began.
A lightening storm hit us,
And made the cattle run.
Got all full of stickers,
From the cactus that did not grow,
And the outlaws watching,
To pick us off in the hills of Mexico.
Well our working season ended,
And the drover would not pay,
If you had not drunk too much,
You are all in debt to me.
But the cowboys never had heard,
Such a thing as a bankrupt law,
So we left that drover's bones to bleach,
On the Plains of the Buffalo.
One evening when the sun was low my brown eyes whispered, "I must go."
Not one second would she wait. She kissed my cheek and left my gate.
[Chorus:]
Those brown eyes I loved so well. Those brown eyes I long to see.
How I long for those brown eyes. Strangers they have grown to be.
One night I met her on the street. I tipped my hat but I could not speak.
Another man was by her side. Soon I thought she'd be his bride.
[Chorus]
'Twas just a year ago today, they laid my own brown eyes away.
Six long years for me she cried. It was her brother by her side.
[Chorus]
(The Great Historical Bum)
I'm just a lonesome traveler, The Great Historical Bum.
Highly educated from history I have come.
I built the Rock of Ages, 'twas in the Year of One
And that was about the biggest thing that man had ever done.
I worked in the Garden of Eden, that was the year of two,
Joined the apple pickers union, I always paid my due;
I'm the man that signed the contract to raise the rising sun,
And that was about the biggest thing that man had ever done.
I was straw boss on the Pyramids, the Tower of Babel, too;
I opened up the ocean let the migrant children through,
I fought a million battles and I never lost a one,
And that was about the biggest thing that man had ever done.
I beat the daring Roman, I beat the daring Turk,
Defeated Nero's army with thirty minutes work,
I fought the greatest leaders and I licked them everyone
And that was about the biggest thing that man had ever done.
I stopped old Caesar's Romans, and I stopped the Kubla Khan;
I took but half an hour's work to beat the Pharaoh's bands;
I knocked old Kaiser Bill flat, then I dumped the bloody Huns,
And that's about the biggest thing that man has ever done.
I was in the Revolution when we set the country free;
Me and a couple of Indians that dumped the Boston tea;
We won the battle at Valley Forge, the battle of Bully Run;
And that was about the biggest thing that man has ever done.
Next, we won the slavery war, some other folks and me,
And every slave from sea to sea was all turned loose by me.
I divorced old Madam slavery, and I wed this freedom dame.
And that's about the biggest thing that man has ever done.
And then I took to farming on the great midwestern plain,
The dust it blowed a hundred years, but never come a rain'
Well, me and a million other fellas left there on the run
And that was about the biggest thing that man has ever done.
I clumb the rocky canyon where the Columbia River rolls,
Seen the salmon leaping the rapids and the falls
The big Grand Coulee Dam in the state of Washington
Is just about the biggest thing that man has ever done.
There's a building in New York that you call the Empire State
I rode the rods to 'Frisco to walk the Golden Gate
I've seen every foot of film that Hollywood has run
But Coulee is the biggest thing that man has ever done.
Three times the size of Boulder or the highest pyramid
Makes the Tower of Babel a plaything for a kid
From the rising of the river to the setting of the sun
The Coulee is the biggest thing that man has ever done.
There was a man across the ocean, I guess you knew him well,
His name was Adolf Hitler, goddam his soul to hell;
We kicked him in the panzers and put him on the run,
And that was about the biggest thing that man has ever done.
I'm living with my freedom wife in this big land we built;
It takes all forty eight States for me to spread my quilt.
Our kids are several millions now; they run from sun to sun.
And that's about the biggest thing that man has ever done.
I built mines and mills and factories to run for Uncle Sam;
I turned th' ploughs and wheels to feed my soldiers in your lands;
This Nazi job's a tough 'un, it'll take us everyone,
'Cause this is about the biggest thing that man has ever done.
There's warehouse guys and teamsters and guys that skin the cats
Guys that run my steel mill, my furnace and my blast
We'll stop the Axis rattlesnakes and thieves of old Nippon
And that will be the biggest thing that man has ever done.
I'd better quit my talking, 'cause I told you all I know,
But please remember, pardner, wherever you may go,
The people are building a peaceful world, and when the job is done
That'll be the biggest thing that man has ever done.
I better quit my talking now; I told you all I know,
But please remember, pardner, wherever you may go,
I'm older than your old folks, and I'm younger than the young,
And I'm about the biggest thing that man has ever done.
Make me a bed right down on your floor
Make me a bed right down on your floor
I'll lay my head in a bed on your floor
I'm a poor lonesome boy
I'm a long way from home
I'm a poor lonesome boy
I'm a long way from home
I'll lay my head in a bed on your floor
The sheriff's on my trail with a big forty-four
The sheriff's on my trail with a big forty-four
I'll lay my head in a bed on your floor
Clock strikin' midnight and daylight to go
Clock strikin' midnight and daylight to go
I'll lay my head in a bed on your floor
Bed on the floor love bed on the floor
Make me a bed right down on your floor
I'll lay my head in a bed on your floor
My mommy told me an' the teacher told me, too,
There's all kinds of work that I can do:
Dry my dishes, sweep my floor,
But if we all work together it won't take very long.
We all work together with a wiggle and a giggle,
We all work together with a giggle and a grin.
We all work together with a wiggle and a giggle,
We all work together with a giggle and a grin.
My sister told me,
Brother told me, too,
Lots an' lotsa work
That I can do.
I can bring her candy.
Bring him gum.
But if we all work together
Hadn't oughtta take long. So
My daddy said,
And my grandpaw, too,
There's work, worka, work
For me to do.
I can paint my fence.
Mow my lawn.
But if we all work together,
Well, it shouldn't take long. So
I tell Mama an' Daddy,
Grampaw an' Granmaw, too,
I tell my sister an' my brother,
Lotsa work for you to do.
You can bring me pennie
And candy and gum;
But if we all work together
'Twon't take so very long. And so
We all work together with a wiggle and a giggle,
We all work together with a giggle and a grin.
We all work together with a wiggle and a giggle,
We all work together with a giggle and a grin.
With a wiggle and a giggle and a google and a goggle
And a jigger and a jagger and a giggle and a grin.
I'm a-going down this old dusty road
I'm a-going down this old dusty road
O Lord God
And I ain't gonna be treated this way
I'm a-going where the dust storms never blow
I'm a-going where the dust storms never blow
O Lord God
And I ain't gonna be treated this way
My children need three square meals a day
My children need three square meals a day
O Lord God
And I ain't gonna be treated this way
I'm a-looking for a job and honest pay
I'm a-looking for a job and honest pay
O Lord God
And I ain't gonna be treated this way
Ade Olay E-E
Ade Olay E-E
E-E-E-E-E
A friend of mine bought an automobile
At a dollar down and a dollar a week.
Every time he turned the wheel,
It was a dollar down and a dollar a week.
He went riding down the road,
Pinched this girl upon her cheek.
Speed cop took him to the judge,
He got a dollar down and a dollar a week.
Sixty days he laid in jail,
At a dollar down and a dollar a week,
Another man was a lovin' his gal,
At a dollar down and a dollar a week.
When he got out he shot the man,
And laid him in the graveyard six feet deep.
And when he bought the graveyard spot,
it was a dollar down and a dollar a week.
Ade olay E-E
Ade olay E-E
Ade olay E-E
E-E-E-E-E (repeat)
Take a trip with me in 1913,
To Calumet, Michigan, in the copper country.
I will take you to a place called Italian Hall,
Where the miners are having their big Christmas ball.
I will take you in a door and up a high stairs,
Singing and dancing is heard everywhere,
I will let you shake hands with the people you see,
And watch the kids dance around the big Christmas tree.
You ask about work and you ask about pay,
They'll tell you they make less than a dollar a day,
Working the copper claims, risking their lives,
So it's fun to spend Christmas with children and wives.
There's talking and laughing and songs in the air,
And the spirit of Christmas is there everywhere,
Before you know it you're friends with us all,
And you're dancing around and around in the hall.
Well a little girl sits down by the Christmas tree lights,
To play the piano so you gotta keep quiet,
To hear all this fun you would not realize,
That the copper boss' thug men are milling outside.
The copper boss' thugs stuck their heads in the door,
One of them yelled and he screamed, "there's a fire,"
A lady she hollered, "there's no such a thing.
Keep on with your party, there's no such thing."
A few people rushed and it was only a few,
"It's just the thugs and the scabs fooling you,"
A man grabbed his daughter and carried her down,
But the thugs held the door and he could not get out.
And then others followed, a hundred or more,
But most everybody remained on the floor,
The gun thugs they laughed at their murderous joke,
While the children were smothered on the stairs by the door.
Such a terrible sight I never did see,
We carried our children back up to their tree,
The scabs outside still laughed at their spree,
And the children that died there were seventy-three.
The piano played a slow funeral tune,
And the town was lit up by a cold Christmas moon,
The parents they cried and the miners they moaned,
"See what your greed for money has done."
The Gambler
"Good morning Mister Railroad man.
What time do your trains toll by?"
"At nine-sixteen and two-forty-four
And twenty five minutes till five."
"It's nine-sixteen and two-forty-four,
Twenty-five minutes till five,
Thank you Mr. Railroad man,
I want to watch your trains roll by."
Standing on a platform,
Smoking a cheap cigar
Waiting for an old freight-train
That carries an empty car.
Well, l pulled my hat down over my eyes,
And l walked across the track,
And I caught me the end of an old freight-train,
And I never did come back.
I sat down in a gamblin' game,
And I could not play my hand,
Just thinkin' about that woman I love
Run away with another man.
Run away with another man, poor boy
Run away with another man,
I was thinking about that woman that l love,
Run away with another man.
Note: a sort of montage of pieces of Poor By and Danville Girl RG
Recorded by Cisco Houston. Also, I think, Woody Guthrie
filename[ GAMBLR
Talking Blues
If you want to get to heaven, let me tell you what to do,
You gotta grease your feet in a little mutton stew.
Slide right out of the devil's hand,
And ease over to the Promised Land.
Take it easy! Go greasy!
I was down in the holler just a'settin' on a log,
My finger on the trigger and my eye on a hog;
I pulled that trigger and the gun went "zip"
And I grabbed that hog with all of my grip
'Course l can't eat hog eyes, but I love chitlins
Down in the hen house on my knees,
I thought I heard a chicken sneeze,
But it was only the rooster sayin' his prayers
Thankin' the Lord for the hens upstairs.
Rooster prayin', hens a-layin',
Pore little pullets just pluggin' away best they know how.
Mama's in the kitchen fixin' the yeast,
Poppa's in the bedroom greasin' his feets
Sister's in the cellar squeezin' up the hops,
Brother's at the window just a-watchin' for the cops.
Drinkin' home brew-makes you happy.
Now, I'm just a city dude a-livin' out of town.
Everybody knows me as Moonshine Brown;
I make the beer, and I drink the slop,
Got nine little orphans that call me Pop.
I'm patriotic...raisin' soldiers. Red cross nurses.
Ain't no use me workin' so hard,
I got a gal in the rich folks' yard.
They kill a chicken, she sends me the head.
She thinks I'm workin', I'm a-layin' up in bed.
Just dreamin' about her. Havin' a good time. . .
Two other women.
Recorded by Woody Guthrie
filename[ TALKBLUE
POOR LAZARUS
(Woody Guthrie)
Dead or alive, it's a hard road
Dead or alive, it's a hard road
Dead or alive
Well the new sheriff sent me a letter
Oh the new sheriff sent me a letter
Come up and see me, dead or alive
Come up and see me, dead or alive
Well, he even sent me my picture (2x)
How do I look, boys, dead or alive (2x)
Well he said he would pay expenses
Dead or alive, hey, hey
Well, he said he would clothe and feed me
Dead or alive, poor boy
Well I'm sorry that I can't come sheriff
Dead or alive, poor boy
I don't like your hard rock hotel
Dead or alive, no sheriff
I've gotta go and see my little sweet thing
Dead or alive, yes sheriff
filename[ POLAZRUS
LITTLE BOXES (BEATNIK VERSION)
See the beatniks in the Village
See the beatniks on MacDougal Street
See the beatniks in the Village
And they all look just the same
There's a tall one and a short one
And a white one and a Negro one
And they all go to the Village
And they all look just the same
And the boys all wear dungarees
And the girls all wear sandals
And they're all nonconformists
And they all dress just the same
And they go to the university
And they major in philosophy
And they're all deep thinkers
And they all think just the same
And they all read their Sartre
And they all read their Kierkegard
And they all talk about it
And they all sound just the same
And they all like folk music
and they dig Woody Guthrie
And just like Bob Dylan
They all sound the same
________
see also BOXES and BLACKBOX
filename[ LITBOX3
play.exe LITBOX
JUST THE FACTS, MA'AM
note: two songs sung alternately
I was born about ten thousand years ago
There ain't nothing in this world that I don't know
I saw Peter, Paul and Moses playing Ring Around the Roses
And I'll whup the guy who says it isn't so
I'm just a lonesome traveler, the great historical bum
Highly educated, from history I come
I built the Rock of Ages, twas in the year of one
And that was the biggest thing that man has ever done
I saw Satan when he looked the Garden o'er
I saw Eve and Adam driven from the door
From behind the bushes peeping, saw the apple they was eating
I swear that I'm the guy what ate the core
Garden of Eden?
Well, I built the Garden of Eden, it was in the year of two
Joined the Apple Pickers Union and I always paid my dues
I'm the man who signed the contract to raise the rising sun
And that's about the biggest thing that man has ever done
I taught Samson how to use his mighty hands
Showed Columbus to this mighty land
And for Phaoroh's little kiddies built all the pyramiddies
And to the Sahara carried all the sand
Pyramids? why...
I was straw boss on the pyramids, the Tower of Babel too
I opened up the ocean, let the migrant children through
Well, I fought a million battles and I never lost a one
And that's about the biggest thing that man has ever done
I taught Solomon his little A B Cs
I was the first one ate Limburger cheese
And while sailing down the bay with Methuselah one day
I saved his flowing whiskers from the breeze
Well I was in the Revolution when we set this country free
It was me and a couple of Indians who dumped the Boston tea
Well I won the battle of Valley Forge and the Battle of
Bully Run
And that's about the biggest thing that man has ever done
Queen Elizabeth fell dead in love with me
We were married in Milwaukee secretly
But I snuck around and shook her, to go with General Hooker
To fight mosquiters down in Tennessee
Woody Guthrie wrote the second song
see also PASSTHRU
filename[ JUSTFACT
JESUS CHRIST
(Woody Guthrie)
Jesus Christ was a man who traveled through the land
Hard working man and brave
He said to the rich, "Give your goods to the poor."
So they laid Jesus Christ in his grave.
Jesus was a man, a carpenter by hand
His followers true and brave
One dirty little coward called Judas Iscariot
Has laid Jesus Christ in his grave
He went to the sick, he went to the poor,
And he went to the hungry and the lame;
Said that the poor would one day win this world,
And so they laid Jesus Christ in his grave.
He went to the preacher, he went to the sheriff,
Told them all the same;
Sell all of your jewelry and give it to the Poor,
But they laid Jesus Christ in his grave.
When Jesus came to town, the working folks around,
Believed what he did say;
The bankers and the preachers they nailed him on a cross,
And they laid Jesus Christ in his grave.
Poor working people, they follered him around,
Sung and shouted gay;
Cops and the soldiers, they nailed him in the air,
And they nailed Jesus Christ in his grave.
Well the people held their breath when they heard about his death,
And everybody wondered why;
It was the landlord and the soldiers that he hired.
That nailed Jesus Christ in the sky.
When the love of the poor shall one day turn to hate.
When the patience of the workers gives away
"Would be better for you rich if you never had been born"
So they laid Jesus Christ in his grave.
This song was written in New York City
Of rich men, preachers and slaves
Yes, if Jesus was to preach like he preached in Galillee,
They would lay Jesus Christ in his grave.
sung to Jesse James
filename[ JESUSCHR
play.exe JESSJAME
I Ride an Old Paint
I ride an old Paint, I'm leadin' old Dan
I'm goin' to Montana just to throw the houlihan,
They feed in the coulees, they water in the draw
Their tails are all matted, their backs are all raw.
cho: Ride around, little dogies, ride around them slow,
For they're fiery and snuffy and rarin' to go.
Old Bill Jones had two daughters and a song,
One went to Denver, the other went wrong.
His wife, she died in a poolroom fight
But still he keeps singing from morning to night:
cho:
When I die, take my saddle from the wall
And put it on my pony, and lead him from his stall;
Tie my bones to his back, turn our faces to the west
And we'll ride the prairies that we love the best.
cho:
Woody Guthrie sang "their backs are all matted, their tails
are all raw." Also "The fiery and snuffy are..." I learned
it this way. Before Woody. RG
Recorded by Woody Guthrie
filename[ RIDEPNT
play.exe RIDEPNT
DEPORTEES
by Woody Guthrie
The crops are all in and the peaches are rotting
The oranges are filed in their creosote dumps
They're flying 'em back to the Mexico border
To take all their money to wade back again
Goodbye to my Juan, farewell Roselita
Adios mes amigos, Jesus e Maria
You won't have a name when you ride the big airplane
All they will call you will be deportees
My father's own father, he waded that river
They took all the money he made in his life
It's six hundred miles to the Mexico border
And they chased them like rustlers, like outlaws, like thieves
The skyplane caught fire over Los Gatos Canyon
The great ball of fire it shook all our hills
Who are these dear friends who are falling like dry leaves?
Radio said, "They are just deportees"
Is this the best way we can grow our big orchards?
Is this the best way we can raise our good crops?
To fall like dry leaves and rot on out topsoil
And be known by no names except "deportees"
Copyright Ludlow Music, Inc.
recorded on Judy Collins/3 and Guthrie Greatest
filename[ DEPORTE
play.exe DEPORTE
Billy The Kid
I'll sing you a true song of Billy the Kid,
I'll sing of the desperate deeds that he did,
Way out in New Mexico, long long ago
When a man's only chance was his own 44.
When Billy the Kid was a very young lad
In the old Silver City he went to the bad
Way out in the West with a gun in his hand
At the age of twelve years he first killed his man.
Fair Mexican maidens play guitars and sing
A song about Billy, the boy bandit king
How ere his young manhood had reached its sad end
He'd a notch on his pistol for twenty-one men.
'Twas on the same night when poor Billy died
He said to his friends: "I am not satisfied.
There are twenty-one men I have put bullets through
And sheriff Pat Garrett must make twenty-two."
Now this is how Billy the Kid met his fate,
The bright moon was shining, the hour was late
Shot down by Pat Garrett, who once was his friend
The young outlaw's life had now come to its end.
There's many a man with a face fine and fair
Who starts out in life with a chance to be square,
But just like poor Billy he wanders astray
And loses his life in the very same way.
Note: This song -- a pretty good one, I think -- is remembered
mainly because Woody Guthrie used the tune for the verse of So
Long, It's Been Good to Know You.
From Lomax-Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads
filename[ BILLYKID
play.exe BILLYKID
Another Psychopath in Iowa
Loadin' up another round
While the NRA in Columbine
Hunt Marilyn Manson down
Powder in the Pentagon
Cruel letters in the mail
Some KKK white supremacist
Cooking up a dose of race hate
I don't need no country
I don't fly no flag
I cut no slack for the Union Jack
Stars and stripes have got me jetlagged
Some baby in Afghanistan
Cryin' for it's mama now
While the BNP scare refugees
Senseless up in Oldham town
Hypocrites in Downing Street
Pourin' petrol on the flames
Septal cries asks Paddy why
Do we always get the blame
I don't need no country
I don't fly no flag
I cut no slack for the Union Jack
Stars and stripes have got me jetlagged
Sing a song for the asylum seekers
For the frightened baby on some foreign beach
Bang a gong and pray they reach safe harbour
Some mother in Jakarta
Lays down her weary head
In some free trade zone compound
Where they work you till you're dead
Hunger stalks the corridors
Famine and disease
I've seen the multinationals walking hand in hand
With globalising marketeers
I don't need no country
I don't fly no flag
I cut no slack for the Union Jack
Stars and stripes have got me jetlagged
Sing a song for the asylum seekers
For the frightened baby on some foreign beach
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