Recent searches
Search options
Administered by:
"I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night
Alive as you and me
Says I "But Joe, you're ten years dead"
"I never died" says he
"I never died" says he
"In Salt Lake City, Joe," says I, in standing by my bed
"They framed you on a murder charge"
Says Joe "But I ain't dead"
Says Joe "But I ain't dead"
"The Copper Bosses killed you Joe;
They shot you Joe" says I
"Takes more than guns to kill a man"
Says Joe "I didn't die"
Says Joe "I didn't die"
And standing there as big as life
And smiling with his eyes
Says Joe "What they could never kill
Went on to organize
Went on to organize"
From San Diego up to Maine
In every mine and mill
Where workers defend their rights
It's there you find Joe Hill
It's there you find Joe Hill!
I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night
Alive as you and me
Says I "But Joe, you're ten years dead"
"I never died" said he
"I never died" said he"
"Joe Hill was a labor activist, IWW member, and songwriter prominent in the early 1900s. He was convicted of murder and executed in 1915 in a controversial trial, with many arguing that he was wrongfully convicted and subject to an unfair trial due to his socialist politics.
Hill has been immortalized as a martyr for the labor movement, with a line he sent in a telegram before his death to fellow Wobbly Bill Haywood saying “Goodbye, Bill, I die like a true blue rebel. Don’t waste any time mourning. Organize!” being abridged into the common labor slogan “Don’t mourn, organize!”
Before being put to music in 1936 by Earl Robinson, the lyrics to this song were written as a tribute poem called “I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night” by Alfred Hayes in 1930."
“Don’t mourn, organize!” – been thinking about this one today