Joe Hill Chords

Lyrics & chords

[Verse 1]
[C]Joe[G] Hi[F]ll [C]come ov[F]er
from [C]Sweden shores
[F]Looking for some work to [C]do
And [F]the Statue of Liberty [C]waved him [Am]by
As [C]Joe come a sailing through, Joe Hill
As Joe come [G]a sailing [C]through.
Oh his [F]clothes were coarse
and his hopes [C]were high
As he [F]headed for the promised [C]land
And it [F]took a few weeks on
[C]the out-of-work streets
streets
[Am]streets
[C]Before he began to understand
Before he [G]began to under[C]stand
And [F]Joe got hired by a [C]bowery bar
[F]sweeping up the sa[C]loon
As his [F]rag would sail over
the [C]barroom [Am]rail
Soun[C]ded like he whistled on a tune
You could almost hear him
[G]whistling on a [C]tune
And [F]Joe rolled on from [C]job to job
From the [F]docks to the railroad [C]line
And no [F]matter how hungry
the [C]hand that wro[Am]te
In his [C]letters he was always doing fine
In his letters he was [G]al ways doing [C]fine
Oh, the [F]years went by like
[C]the sun goin' down
[F]slowly turn the [C]page
And when [F]Joe looked back at
[C]the sweat upon his tracks
[Am]He had n[C]othing to show but his age
He had nothing [G]to show but [C]his age
So he [F]headed out for the
[C]California shore
[F]There things were just as [C]bad
So he [F]joined the Industrial [C]Work
ers of the [Am]World
'Cause, The [C]union was the
[G]only friend he [C]had
'Cause, The union was the
[G]only friend he [C]had
Now [F]the strikes were bloody
and [C]the strikes were black
as [F]hard as they were [C]long
In the [F]dark of night Joe
[C]would stay awake and [Am]write
In [C]the morning he would raise
them with a song
In the morning he would
[G]raise them with [C]a song
And he [F]wrote his words to
the tunes [C]of the day
To [F]be passed along the union [C]vine
And [F]the strikes were led and
[C]the songs [Am]were spread
And [C]Joe Hill was always on the line
Yes Joe Hill was [G]always on the
[C]line[F][C][F]
[C][F][C]
Now in [F]Salt Lake City a
[C]murder was made
There was [F]hardly a clue to [C]find
Oh, the [F]proof was poor,
but [C]the sheriff was [Am]sure
[C]Joe was the killer of the crime
That Joe was the [G]killer of the [C]crime
Joe [F]raised his hands but
[C]they shot him down
he had [F]nothing but guilt to [C]give
It's a [F]doctor I need and
[C]they left him [Am]to bleed
[C]He made it 'cause he had the will to live
Yes, He made it 'cause he
[G]had the will to [C]live
Then the [F]trial was held in
a [C]building of wood
And [F]there the killer would be [C]named
And the [F]days weighed more
than the [C]cold copper ore
Cause he feared that he was
being [Am]framed
Cause [C]he found out that
[G]he was being [C]framed
Oh, [F]strange are the ways
of [C]western law
[F]Strange are the ways of [C]fate
For the [F]government crawled to
the [C]mine owner's [Am]call
That [C]the judge was appointed
by the [Am]state
[C]Yes, The judge was [G]ap
pointed by the [C]state
Oh, [F]Utah justice [C]can be had
But [F]not for a union [C]man
And [F]Joe was warned by
[C]summer early morn
[Am]That there'd be one [C]less
singer [G]in the [C]land
There'd be one less [G]singer in the [C]land
Now [F]William Spry was [C]Governor Spry
And a [F]life was his to [C]hold
On the [F]last appeal,
fell a [C]governor's [Am]tear
[C]May the lord have mercy on your soul
May the lord have mer[G]cy on [C]your soul
Even [F]President Wilson held [C]up the day
But [F]even he would [C]fail
For [F]nobody heard the soul
[C]search[Am]ing words
[C]Of the soul in the Salt Lake [G]City [C]jail
Of the soul in [G]the Salt Lake City [C]jail
[F]For 36 years he [C]lived out his days
And he [F]more than played his [C]part
For his [F]songs that he made,
he was [C]carefully [Am]paid
With a rifle [C]bullet buried in his heart
With a rifle bullet [G]buried in his [C]heart
Yes, they [F]lined Joe Hill up
[C]against the wall
[F]Blindfold over his [C]eyes
It's the [F]life of a rebel that
[C]he chose to [Am]live
It's the [C]death of a rebel that he died
It's the death of a [G]rebel that [C]he died
Now [F]some say Joe was
[C]guilty as charged
[F]And some say he wasn't even [C]there
And I [F]guess nobody will [C]ever [Am]know
'Cause the [C]court records
all disappeared
'Cause the court records
[G]all disap[C]peared
Say [F]wherever you go in [C]this fair land
In [F]every union [C]hall
In the [F]dusty dark these [C]words are [Am]marked
In [C]between all the cracks upon the wall
In between all the [G]cracks upon the [C]wall
It's the [F]very last line that [C]Joe Will wrote
When he [F]knew that his days
were [C]through
"Boys, [F]this is my last and [C]final [Am]will
Good luck [C]to all of you
Good luck to [G]all of [C]you"