Looking for some work to do
And the Statue of Liberty waved him by
As Joe come a sailing through, Joe Hill
As Joe come a sailing through.
Oh his clothes were coarse
As he headed for the promised land
And it took a few weeks on
Before he began to understand
Before he began to understand
And Joe got hired by a bowery bar
As his rag would sail over
Sounded like he whistled on a tune
You could almost hear him
And Joe rolled on from job to job
From the docks to the railroad line
In his letters he was always doing fine
In his letters he was al ways doing fine
Oh, the years went by like
And when Joe looked back at
the sweat upon his tracks
He had nothing to show but his age
He had nothing to show but his age
There things were just as bad
So he joined the Industrial Work
'Cause, The union was the
'Cause, The union was the
Now the strikes were bloody
and the strikes were black
as hard as they were long
would stay awake and write
In the morning he would raise
And he wrote his words to
To be passed along the union vine
And the strikes were led and
And Joe Hill was always on the line
Yes Joe Hill was always on the
There was hardly a clue to find
Joe was the killer of the crime
That Joe was the killer of the crime
he had nothing but guilt to give
He made it 'cause he had the will to live
Yes, He made it 'cause he
Then the trial was held in
And there the killer would be named
And the days weighed more
Cause he feared that he was
Strange are the ways of fate
For the government crawled to
That the judge was appointed
Oh, Utah justice can be had
There'd be one less singer in the land
Now William Spry was Governor Spry
And a life was his to hold
May the lord have mercy on your soul
May the lord have mercy on your soul
Even President Wilson held up the day
For nobody heard the soul
Of the soul in the Salt Lake City jail
Of the soul in the Salt Lake City jail
For 36 years he lived out his days
And he more than played his part
For his songs that he made,
With a rifle bullet buried in his heart
With a rifle bullet buried in his heart
Yes, they lined Joe Hill up
It's the life of a rebel that
It's the death of a rebel that he died
It's the death of a rebel that he died
And some say he wasn't even there
And I guess nobody will ever know
Say wherever you go in this fair land
In the dusty dark these words are marked
In between all the cracks upon the wall
In between all the cracks upon the wall
It's the very last line that Joe Will wrote
When he knew that his days
"Boys, this is my last and final will
