In a letter to every president, congressman
Career politician
Scrawled in spite across the envelope
With all of our conviction
It only took a few hours for his peers
To find him guilty in a trial too fair
A wobblie, immigrant worker has no place
Amongst the living

"My body if I could choose
To ashes it reduce"

Murdered by the capitalist
1915 be careful of what you wish
Who is wrong and who is righteous?

What was stolen from us we will replace
Off with the head on the body we feast
Who is wrong and who is righteous
Will never be our own decision

He yelled fire to the squad with guns
They stopped his heart from beating
Every word he wrote, he spoke, he sung
We are still singing:

"My body if I could choose to ashes it reduce
And let the breezes blow to
Where some flowers grow
Perhaps some fading flower then would come
To life and bloom again"

If the workers take a notion
They can stop all speeding trains
Every ship upon the oceans
They can tie with mighty chains
Every wheel in the creation
Every mine and every mill
Fleets and armies of all nations
Will at our command stand still


Lyrics submitted by Elective Amnesia

1915 Lyrics as written by Christopher Mark Head Christopher Lee Barker

Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

1915 song meanings
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  • +1
    General Comment

    This song is about Joe Hill, how his fight for worker's rights brought him to a fake (or at least very questionable) trial and a death sentence. It quotes his last will:

    "My will is easy to decide, For there is nothing to divide. My kin don't need to fuss and moan, "Moss does not cling to a rolling stone."

    My body? Oh, if I could choose I would to ashes it reduce, And let the merry breezes blow, My dust to where some flowers grow.

    Perhaps some fading flower then Would come to life and bloom again. This is my Last and final Will. Good Luck to All of you, Joe Hill"

    Brakisson June 17, 2012   Link

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