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Ballad of the Carpenter Lyrics
Jesus was a working man
And a hero, you shall hear
Born in the slums of Bethlehem
At the turning of the year
At the turning of the year
When Jesus was a little lad
The streets rang with his name
For he argued with the older men
And he put them all to shame
He put them all to shame
His father he apprenticed him
A carpenter to be
To plane and drill and work with skill
In the town of Galilee
The town of Galilee
He became a roving journeyman
And he wandered far and wide
And he saw how wealth and poverty
Lived always side by side
Always side by side
He said, "Come all you working men
You farmers and weavers too
If you would only organise
This world belongs to you
This world belongs to you"
So the fishermen sent two delegates
And the farmers and weavers too
And they formed a working committee of twelve
To see the struggle through
To see the struggle through
When the rich men heard what the carpenter had done
To the Roman troops they ran
Saying "Put this rebel Jesus down
He's a menace to God and man
Menace to God and man"
The commander of the occupying troops
He laughed and then he said
"There's a cross to spare on Cavalry Hill
By the weekend he'll be dead
By the weekend he'll be dead
Jesus walked among the poor
For the poor were his own kind
And they never let the cops get close enough
To take him from behind
Oh, to take him from behind
So they hired a man of the traitor's trade
And a stool pigeon was he
And he sold his brother to the butcher's men
For a fistful of silver money
A fistful of money
When Jesus stood in the prison cell
They beat him and offered him bribes
To desert the cause of his own poor folk
And work for the rich men's tribe
Work for the rich men's tribe
The sweat stood out upon his brow
And the blood was in his eye
And they nailed his body to the Roman cross
And they laughed as they watched him die
They laughed as they watched him die
Two thousand years have passed and gone
And many a hero too
But the dream of this poor carpenter
At last it is coming true
At last it is coming true
And a hero, you shall hear
Born in the slums of Bethlehem
At the turning of the year
At the turning of the year
The streets rang with his name
For he argued with the older men
And he put them all to shame
He put them all to shame
A carpenter to be
To plane and drill and work with skill
In the town of Galilee
The town of Galilee
And he wandered far and wide
And he saw how wealth and poverty
Lived always side by side
Always side by side
You farmers and weavers too
If you would only organise
This world belongs to you
This world belongs to you"
And the farmers and weavers too
And they formed a working committee of twelve
To see the struggle through
To see the struggle through
To the Roman troops they ran
Saying "Put this rebel Jesus down
He's a menace to God and man
Menace to God and man"
He laughed and then he said
"There's a cross to spare on Cavalry Hill
By the weekend he'll be dead
By the weekend he'll be dead
For the poor were his own kind
And they never let the cops get close enough
To take him from behind
Oh, to take him from behind
And a stool pigeon was he
And he sold his brother to the butcher's men
For a fistful of silver money
A fistful of money
They beat him and offered him bribes
To desert the cause of his own poor folk
And work for the rich men's tribe
Work for the rich men's tribe
And the blood was in his eye
And they nailed his body to the Roman cross
And they laughed as they watched him die
They laughed as they watched him die
And many a hero too
But the dream of this poor carpenter
At last it is coming true
At last it is coming true
Song Info
Submitted by
epiwoosh On Feb 26, 2019
More Ewan MacColl
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My Old Man
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The correct lyrics mysteriously got replaced with the lyrics to Ballad of Accounting, so here are the lyrics to Ballad of the Carpenter:
Jesus was a working man And a hero, you shall hear Born in the slums of Bethlehem At the turning of the year At the turning of the year
When Jesus was a little lad The streets rang with his name For he argued with the older men And he put them all to shame He put them all to shame
His father he apprenticed him A carpenter to be To plane and drill and work with skill In the town of Galilee The town of Galilee
He became a roving journeyman And he wandered far and wide And he saw how wealth and poverty Lived always side by side Always side by side
He said, "Come all you working men You farmers and weavers too If you would only organise This world belongs to you This world belongs to you"
So the fishermen sent two delegates And the farmers and weavers too And they formed a working committee of twelve To see the struggle through To see the struggle through
When the rich men heard what the carpenter had done To the Roman troops they ran Saying "Put this rebel Jesus down He's a menace to God and man Menace to God and man"
The commander of the occupying troops He laughed and then he said "There's a cross to spare on Cavalry Hill By the weekend he'll be dead By the weekend he'll be dead
Jesus walked among the poor For the poor were his own kind And they never let the cops get close enough To take him from behind Oh, to take him from behind
So they hired a man of the traitor's trade And a stool pigeon was he And he sold his brother to the butcher's men For a fistful of silver money A fistful of money
When Jesus stood in the prison cell They beat him and offered him bribes To desert the cause of his own poor folk And work for the rich men's tribe Work for the rich men's tribe
The sweat stood out upon his brow And the blood was in his eye And they nailed his body to the Roman cross And they laughed as they watched him die They laughed as they watched him die
Two thousand years have passed and gone And many a hero too But the dream of this poor carpenter At last it is coming true At last it is coming true