Woody Guthrie

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.

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

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

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

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!"

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.

Ramblin' around your city
Ramblin' around your town
I never see a friend I know
As I go ramblin' around, boys
As I go ramblin' around

My sweetheart and my parents
I left in my old home town
I'm out to do the best I can
As I go ramblin' around, boys
As I go ramblin' around

The peach trees they are loaded,
The limbs are bending down,
I pick 'em all day for a dollar, boys
As I go ramblin' around
As I go ramblin' around

Sometimes the fruit gets rotten
Falls down on the ground
There's a hungry mouth for every peach
As I go ramblin' around, boys
As I go ramblin' around

I wish that I could marry
I wished I could settle down
But I cain't save a penny, boys
As I go ramblin' around
As I go ramblin' around

My mother prayed that I would be
A man of some renown
But I am just a refugee
As I go ramblin' around, boys
As I go ramblin' around

Come all of you cowboys all over this land,
I'll teach you the law of the Ranger's Command:
To hold a six shooter, and never to run
As long as there's bullets in both of your guns.

I met a fair maiden whose name I don't know;
I asked her to the roundup with me would she go;
She said she'd go with me to the cold roundup,
And drink that hard liquor from the cold, bitter cup.

We started for the canyon in the fall of the year
Expecting to get there with a herd of fat steer;
And the rustlers broke on us in the dead hours of night;
She 'rose from her warm bed, a battle to fight.

She 'rose from her warm bed with a gun in each hand,
Said: Come all of you cowboys and fight for your land,
Come all of you cowboys and don't ever run
As long as there's bullets in both of your guns.

Well the world owns seven wonders as the travellers always tell.
Some gardens and some towers, I guess you know them well.
But now the greatest wonder is in Uncle Sam's fair land.
That King Columbia river and the great Grand Coulee Dam.

She come up the Canadian Rockies where the crystal waters glide,
Comes a-roaring down the canyon to meet that salty tide
From the great Pacific Ocean to where the sun sets in the west,
That big Grand Coulee country in that land I love the best.

In the misty glitter of that wild and windward spray,
Men have fought the pounding waters and met a watery grave.
Once she tore men's boats to splinters but she gave men dreams to dream,
That day that Grand Coulee dam went across that wild and restless stream.

Oh Uncle Sam took up the notion in the year of thirty three,
For the factory and the farmer and for all of you and me.
He said: roll it on Columbia, you can roll out to the sea
But river, while you're rolling you can do some work for me.

Now from Washington and Oregon you can hear them factories a-hum,
Making corn and making manganese and light aluminum.
Always a flying fortress to blast for Uncle Sam,
That King Columbia river and the great Grand Coulee dam.

Well the world owns seven wonders as the travellers always tell.
Some gardens and some towers, I guess you know them well.
But now the greatest wonder is in Uncle Sam's fair land.
That King Columbia river and the great Grand Coulee Dam

Words and Music by Woody Guthrie and Jack Guthrie

Many a month has come and gone
Since I've wandered from my home
In those Oklahoma hills
Where I was born

Many a page of my life has turned
Many lessons I have learned
And I feel like in those hills
Where I belong

CHORUS:
Way down yonder in the Indian nation
Ridin' my pony on the reservation
In the Oklahoma hills where I was born

Way down yonder in the Indian nation
A cowboy's life is my occupation
In the Oklahoma Hills where I was born

But as I sit here today
Many mile's I am away
From the place I rode my pony
Through the draw

Where the oak and black-jack trees
Kiss the playful prairie breeze
And I feel back in those hills
Where I belong

CHORUS

Now as I turn life a page
To the land of the great Osage
In those Oklahoma hills
Where I was born

Where the black oil rolls and flows
And the snow white cotton grows
And I feel like in those hills
Where I belong

CHORUS

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."

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

I've gambled down in the town of Newport News
The more I gamble, boys, the more I lose
Baltimore to Washington
Oh Baltimore to Washington
Oh Baltimore to Washington
Oh Baltimore to Washington
I guess they got troubles too

Well the hobos know me up and down the line
They don't know the trouble on my mind
I guess they got troubles too
I guess they got troubles too, boys
I guess they got troubles too
I guess they got troubles too, boys
From Baltimore to Washington

And the police know me up and down the line
They don't know the trouble on my hands
I guess they got troubles too
I guess they got trouble too, boy
I guess they got troubles too
I guess the police they got their troubles too
From Baltimore to Washington
Oh Baltimore to Washington
Oh Baltimore to Washington
Oh Baltimore to Washington
I guess they've got troubles too

Going up north and goin north this fall
If my luck don't change I won't be back at all
From Baltimore to Washington
Oh Baltimore to Washington, boys
Baltimore to Washington
Baltimore to Washington
I guess they got troubles too

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

There's a better world that's a-coming
There's a better world that's a-coming
There's a better world that's a-coming
I'll tell you why why why
And don't you see see see
And don't you know know know
Hey hey hey
There's a better world that's a-coming
I'll tell you why why why
There's a better world that's a-coming
I'll tell you why

There's a better world that's a-coming
Tell you why why why
Better world a-coming I'll tell you why
Out of marching out of battling
You can hear the chains a-rattling
There's a better world that's a-coming
I'll tell you why

Now there's a better world that's a-coming
And there's a better world that's a-coming
And there's a better world that's a-coming
I'll tell you why why why
Why why why
There's a better world that's a-coming
And don't you see see see
Better world that's a-coming
And don't you see see see
Better world that's a-coming
And don't you see

Well there's a better world that's a-coming
I'll tell you why why why
better world that's a-coming I'll tell you why
We will beat'em on the land in the sea and in the sky
There's a better world that's a-coming
I'll tell you why

Well there's a better world that's a-coming
Don't you see see see
Better world that's a-coming don't you see
When we'll all be union and we'll all be free
There's a better world that's coming
don't you see

There's a better world a-coming
Don't you see see see
Better world that's coming don't you see
When we'll all be union and we'll all be free
There's a better world that's a-coming
Don't you see

(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.

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)

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.

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 boats 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.

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

I went down to the railroad yard, Watch the train come by
Knew that 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 that track, I bid that gal adieu.

I bid that gal adieu, poor boys, I bid that gal adieu,
The very next train come down that track, I bid that gal adieu.

Well, the new sher'ff wrote me a letter,
Yes, the new sher'ff wrote me a letter:
Come up and see me dead or alive,
Come up and see me dead or alive.
Dead or alive it's a hard road; it's a hard road dead or alive.

Well, he even sent me my picture:
Yes, he even sent me my picture;
How do I look, boys, dead or alive?
How do I look, boys, dead or alive?
Dead or alive it's a hard road; it's a hard road dead or alive.

Well, he said he would pay expenses:
Yes, he said he would pay expenses;
Dead or alive, no thank!
New sheriff, I'm a poor boy
Dead or alive it's a hard road; it's a hard road dead or alive.

Well, he said he would feed and clothe me;
Yes, mhe said he would feed and clothe me;
Dead or alive, no thanks!
New sheriff, I'm a poor boy
Dead or alive it's a hard road; it's a hard road dead or alive.

Well, I'm sorry I can't come, sheriff;
Yes, I'm sorry but I can't come, sheriff;
Dead or alive, no thanks!
New sheriff, I'm a poor boy
Dead or alive it's a hard road; it's a hard road dead or alive.

I don't like your hard-rock hotel;
I don't like your hard-rock hotel;
Dead or alive, new sheriff
No thanks, I'm a poor boy
Dead or alive it's a hard road; it's a hard road dead or alive.

I gotta go down and see my little sweet thing;
Gonna go down and see my little sweet thing;
Dead or alive, yes, Lord!
No thanks, new sheriff.
Dead or alive it's a hard road; it's a hard road dead or alive.

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 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.

'Long about nineteen thirty-one,
My field boiled up in the boiling sun.

'Long about nineteen thirty-two,
Dust did rise and the dust it blew.

'Long about nineteen thirty-three,
Livin' in the dust was a killin' me.

'Long about nineteen thirty-four,
Dangburn dust it blew some more.

'Long about nineteen thirty-five,
Blowed my crops about nine miles high.

'Long about nineteen thirty-six,
Me and my wife in a devil of a fix.

'Long about nineteen thirty-nine
We fanned our tails for that Orgegon line.

We got a hold of a piece of land,
Thirteen miles from the Coulee dam.

Coulee dam is a sight to see,
Makes this e-lec-a-tric-i-tee

'Lectric lights is mighty fine,
If you're hooked on to the power line

There just ain't no country extra fine.
If you're just a mile from the end o' the line.

Milk my cows and turn my stone,
Till them Grand Coullee boys come along.

My eyes are crossed, my back's in a cramp,
Tryin' to read my bible by my coal-oil lamp.

No, there ain't no country worth a dime,
If I'm just a mile from the end o' the line.

(Chorus)
Ezekiel saw that wheel
Way up in the middle of the air
Ezekiel saw that wheel whirling
Way up in the middle of the air
Now the little wheel runs by faith
And the big wheel runs by the grace of God
And a wheel in a wheel whirling
Way up in the middle of the air

Tell you what a hypocrite he will do
(Way up in the middle of the air)
He'll talk about me and he'll talk about you
(Way up in the middle of the air)

[Chorus]

Brothers and sisters tell you what you gotta do
Way up in the middle of the air
Join about union two by two
Way up in the middle of the air

[Chorus]

Tell you what a bootlegger he will do
Way up in the middle of the air
Sell you liquor and liquor with fruit
Way up in the middle of the air

[Chorus]

If I was on some foggy mountain top
Tell you what I'd do
Sing this song to the whole wide world
And the little gal I love so true

Well, the world has seven wonders that the trav'lers always tell,
Some gardens and some towers, I guess you know them well,
But now the greatest wonder is in Uncle Sam's fair lang,
It's the big Columbia River and the big Grand Coulee Dam.

She heads up the Canadian Rockies where the rippling waters glide,
Comes a-roaring down the canyon to meet the 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 wind ward spray,
Men have fought the pounding waters and met a watery grave,
Well, 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 'thrity-three,
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 rambling, you can do some work for me."

Now in Washington and Oregon you can hear the factories hum,
Making chrome and making manganese and light aluminum,
And there roars the flying fortress now to fight for Uncle Sam,
Spawned upon the King Columbia by the big Grand Coulee Dam.

It was late last night when the boss came home askin' for his lady
The only answer that he got, "
She's gone with the Gypsy Davey,
She's gone with the Gypsy Dave."

Go saddle for me a buckskin horse
And a hundred dollar saddle.
Point out to me their wagon tracks
And after them I'll travel,
After them I'll ride.

Well I had not rode to the midnight moon,
When I saw the campfire gleaming.
I heard the notes of the big guitar
And the voice of the gypsies singing
That song of the Gypsy Dave.

There in the light of the camping fire,
I saw her fair face beaming.
Her heart in tune with the big guitar
And the voice of the gypsies singing
That song of the Gypsy Dave.

Have you forsaken your house and home?
Have you forsaken your baby?
Have you forsaken your husband dear
To go with the Gypsy Davy?
And sing with the Gypsy Davy?
The song of the Gypsy Dave?

Yes I've forsaken my husband dear
To go with the Gypsy Davy,
And I've forsaken my mansion high
But not my blue-eyed baby,
Not my blue-eyed baby.

She smiled to leave her husband dear
And go with the Gypsy Davy;
But the tears come a-trickling down her cheeks
To think of the blue-eyed baby,
Pretty little blue-eyed baby.

Take off, take off your buckskin gloves
Made of Spanish leather;
Give to me your lily-white hair
And we'll ride home together
We'll ride home again.

No, I won't take off my buckskin gloves,
They're made of Spanish leather.
I'll go my way from day to day
And sing with the Gypsy Davy
That song of the Gypsy Davy,
That song of the Gypsy Davy,
That song of the Gypsy Dave.

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

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

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

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.

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

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!"

There's a little black train a-coming,
Coming down the track.
You've got to ride that little black train
but it ain't a-gonna bring you back.

You may be a bar-room gambler
And cheat your way through life,
But you can't cheat that little black train
Or beat this final ride.

You silken bar-room ladies,
dressed in your wordly pride.
You've got to ride that little black train,
That's coming in tonight.

Your million dollar fortune,
Your mansion glittering white,
You can't take it with you
When the train moves in tonight

Get ready for your saviour
Pick your business right.
You've got to ride that little black train,
To make this final ride.

You silken bar-roomladies,
dressed in your worldly pride,
You've got to ride that little black train
That's coming in tonight

You may be a bar-room gambler,
Cheat your way through life,
But you can't cheat that little black train,
Or beat this final ride.

There's a little black train a-coming,
Coming down the track.
You've got to ride that little black train
but it ain't a-gonna bring you back.

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

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

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.

My mother called me to her bedside
These words she said to me
If you don't quit your rambling ways
They're gonna get you in the penetentiary
Gonna get you in the penetentiary poor boy
Gonna get you in the penetentiary
If you don't quit your reckless ways
They're gonna get you in the penetentiary

So I sat myself down in a gambling game
But I could not play my hand
Just thinking about that woman I love
Run away with another man
Run away with another man poor boy
Run away with another man
Just thinking about that woman I love
Run away with another man

The cards came around the table lord
And I had such a worried mind
My stack of gold dollars I wasted away
And I lost about ninety-nine
I lost about ninety-nine poor boy
I lost about ninety-nine
My stack of gold dollars I wasted away
And I lost about ninety-nine

It wasn't very long till I seen him again
He ran away left her behind
And I laid him down with my old forty-four
And the judge gave me ninety-nine
The judge gave me ninety-nine poor boy
The judge gave me ninety-nine
I laid a man down with my big forty-four
And the judge gave me ninety-nine

Well the jury said I had to pay
And the clerk he wrote it down
And the judge called out my number
Two sixes upside down
Two sixes upside down poor boy
Two sixes upside down
The judge called out my number
Two sixes upside down

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.

Now, come and bathe my forehead, Mother
For I'm growing very weak
Let one drop of water, Mother,
Fall upon my burning cheek

Go and tell my little playmates
That I never more will play
Give them all my toys, but Mother,
Put my little shoes away

You will do this won't you Mother?
Please remember what I say
Give them all my toys, but Mother,
Put my little shoes away

Santa Claus he brought them to me
With a lot of other things
And I thought he brought an angel
With a pair of golden wings

Soon the baby will be larger
And they'll fit his little feet
Won't he look so nice and funny
As he walks upon the street

You will do this won't you Mother?
Please remember what I say
Give them all my toys, but Mother,
Put my little shoes away