[00:14.84]There's an evenin' haze settlin' over town
[00:18.96]Starlight by the edge of the creek
[00:22.45]The buyin' power of the proletariat's gone down
[00:26.25]Money's gettin' shallow and weak
[00:29.54]Well, the place I love best is a sweet memory
[00:33.19]It's a new path that we trod
[00:36.81]They say low wages are a reality
[00:40.46]If we want to compete abroad
[00:44.60]My cruel weapons have been put on the shelf
[00:47.83]Come sit down on my knee
[00:51.39]You are dearer to me than myself
[00:55.36]As you yourself can see
[00:58.73]While I'm listening to the steel rails hum
[01:02.79]Got both eyes tight shut
[01:05.93]Just sitting here trying to keep the hunger from
[01:10.02]Creeping it's way into my gut
[01:13.73]Meet me at the bottom, don't lag behind
[01:17.23]Bring me my boots and shoes
[01:20.54]You can hang back or fight your best on the front line
[01:24.57]Sing a little bit of these workingman's blues
[01:35.09]Well, I'm sailin' on back, ready for the long haul
[01:39.13]Tossed by the winds and the seas
[01:42.14]I'll drag 'em all down to hell and I'll stand 'em at the wall
[01:46.15]I'll sell 'em to their enemies
[01:49.60]I'm tryin' to feed my soul with thought
[01:53.30]Gonna sleep off the rest of the day
[01:57.08]Sometimes no one wants what we got
[02:00.68]Sometimes you can't give it away
[02:04.41]Now the place is ringed with countless foes
[02:08.51]Some of them may be deaf and dumb
[02:12.20]No man, no woman knows
[02:15.34]The hour that sorrow will come
[02:19.04]In the dark I hear the night birds call
[02:22.65]I can feel a lover's breath
[02:26.70]I sleep in the kitchen with my feet in the hall
[02:30.54]Sleep is like a temporary death
[02:34.16]Meet me at the bottom, don't lag behind
[02:37.71]Bring me my boots and shoes
[02:41.01]You can hang back or fight your best on the front line
[02:45.06]Sing a little bit of these workingman's blues
[02:50.45]
[02:55.74]Well, they burned my barn and they stole my horse
[02:59.78]I can't save a dime
[03:02.97]I got to be careful, I don't want to be forced
[03:06.35]Into a life of continual crime
[03:10.37]I can see for myself that the sun is sinking
[03:14.32]How I wish you were here to see
[03:18.08]Tell me now, am I wrong in thinking
[03:21.42]That you have forgotten me?
[03:25.00]Now they worry and they hurry and they fuss and they fret
[03:28.58]They waste your nights and days
[03:33.72]Them I will forget
[03:35.82]But you I'll remember always
[03:39.61]Old memories of you to me have clung
[03:43.44]You've wounded me with your words
[03:46.97]Gonna have to straighten out your tongue
[03:50.19]It's all true, everything you've heard
[03:54.78]Meet me at the bottom, don't lag behind
[03:58.33]Bring me my boots and shoes
[04:01.60]You can hang back or fight your best on the front line
[04:05.67]Sing a little bit of these workingman's blues
[04:10.64]
[04:16.47]In you, my friend, I find no blame
[04:20.40]Wanna look in my eyes, please do
[04:24.60]No one can ever claim
[04:27.28]That I took up arms against you
[04:30.98]All across the peaceful sacred fields
[04:35.47]They will lay you low
[04:38.36]They'll break your horns and slash you with steel
[04:42.04]I say it so it must be so
[04:45.53]Now I'm down on my luck and I'm black and blue
[04:49.14]Gonna give you another chance
[04:53.08]I'm all alone and I'm expecting you
[04:56.36]To lead me off in a cheerful dance
[05:00.12]I got a brand new suit and a brand new wife
[05:04.34]I can live on rice and beans
[05:07.99]Some people never worked a day in their life
[05:11.15]Don't know what work even means
[05:14.91]Meet me at the bottom, don't lag behind
[05:18.96]Bring me my boots and shoes
[05:22.15]You can hang back or fight your best on the front line
[05:26.15]Sing a little bit of these workingman's blues
[05:31.21]