Workingman's Blues #2

There's an evenin' haze settlin' over the town

Starlight by the edge of the creek

The buyin' power of the proletariat's gone down

Money's gettin' shallow and weak

The place I love best is a sweet memory

It's a new path that we trod

They say low wages are a reality

If we want to compete abroad

My cruel weapons have been put on the shelf

Come sit down on my knee

You are dearer to me than myself

As you yourself can see

I'm listenin' to the steel rails hum

Got both eyes tight shut

Trying to keep the hunger from

Creeping it's way into my gut

Meet me at the bottom, don't lag behind

Bring me my boots and shoes

You can hang back or fight your best on the front line

Sing a little bit of these workingman's blues

Now, I'm sailin' on back, ready for the long haul

Tossed by the winds and the seas

I'll drag ‘em all down to hell and I'll stand ‘em at the wall

I'll sell ‘em to their enemies

I'm tryin' to feed my soul with thought

Gonna sleep off the rest of the day

Sometimes no one wants what we got

Sometimes you can't give it away

Now the place is ringed with countless foes

Some of them may be deaf and dumb

No man, no woman knows

The hour that sorrow will come

In the dark I hear the night birds call

I can hear a lover's breath

I sleep in the kitchen with my feet in the hall

Sleep is like a temporary death

Meet me at the bottom, don't lag behind

Bring me my boots and shoes

You can hang back or fight your best on the front line

Sing a little bit of these workingman's blues

Well, they burned my barn, they stole my horse

I can't save a dime

I got to be careful, I don't want to be forced

Into a life of continual crime

I can see for myself that the sun is sinking

How I wish you were here to see

Tell me now, am I wrong in thinking

That you have forgotten me?

Now they worry and they hurry and they fuss and they fret

They waste your nights and days

Them I will forget

But you I'll remember always

Old memories of you to me have clung

You've wounded me with words

Gonna have to straighten out your tongue

It's all true, everything you have heard

Meet me at the bottom, don't lag behind

Bring me my boots and shoes

You can hang back or fight your best on the front line

Sing a little bit of these workingman's blues

In you, my friend, I find no blame

Wanna look in my eyes, please do

No one can ever claim

That I took up arms against you

All across the peaceful sacred fields

They will lay you low

They'll break your horns and slash you with steel

I say it so it must be so

Now I'm down on my luck and I'm black and blue

Gonna give you another chance

I'm all alone and I'm expecting you

To lead me off in a cheerful dance

Got a brand new suit and a brand new wife

I can live on rice and beans

Some people never worked a day in their life

Don't know what work even means

Meet me at the bottom, don't lag behind

Bring me my boots and shoes

You can hang back or fight your best on the front line

Sing a little bit of these workingman's blues