“It’s a Long Way Down to the Soup Line” Sheet Music (pdf).
“It’s a Long Way Down to the Soup Line” Karaoke (midi with lyrics).
Lyrics: Joe Hill.
Tune: “Tipperary.”
Bill Brown was just a working man like others of his kind.
He lost his job and tramped the streets when work was hard to find.
The landlord put him on the stem; the bankers kept his dough.
And Bill heard everybody sing no matter where he’d go:
It’s a long way down to the soup line.
It’s a long way to go.
It’s a long way down to the soup line.
And the soup is thin, I know.
Goodbye, good old pork chops.
Farewell, beefsteak rare.
It’s a long, long way down to the soup line,
But my soup is there!
So, Bill and sixteen million folk responded to the call
To force the hours of labor down and thus make jobs for all.
They picketed the industries and won the four-hour day
And organized a gen’ral strike so they won’t have to say:
It’s a long way down to the soup line.
It’s a long way to go.
It’s a long way down to the soup line.
And the soup is thin, I know.
Goodbye, good old pork chops.
Farewell, beefsteak rare.
It’s a long, long way down to the soup line,
But my soup is there!
The workers own the fact’ries now where jobs were once destroyed
By big machines that filled the world with hungry unemployed.
They all own homes; they’re living well; they’re happy, free, and strong.
But, millionaires wear overalls and sing this little song:
It’s a long way down to the soup line.
It’s a long way to go.
It’s a long way down to the soup line.
And the soup is thin, I know.
Goodbye, good old pork chops.
Farewell, beefsteak rare.
It’s a long, long way down to the soup line,
But my soup is there!