Tom Joad, Part 1 Lyrics

The song Tom Joad, Part 1 is performed by Woody Guthrie in the album named Ramblin' Round in the year 2000 .



Tom Joad got out of the old McAlester Pen;
There he got his parole.
After four long years on a man killing charge,
Tom Joad come a-walkin' down the road, poor boy,
Tom Joad come a-walkin' down the road.

Tom Joad, he met a truck driving man;
There he caught him a ride.
He said, "I just got loose from McAlester Pen
On a charge called homicide,
A charge called homicide."

That truck rolled away in a cloud of dust;
Tommy turned his face toward home.
He met Preacher Casey, and they had a little drink,
But they found that his family they was gone,
He found that his family they was gone.

He found his mother's old fashion shoe,
Found his daddy's hat.
And he found little Muley and Muley said,
"They've been tractored out by the cats,
They've been tractored out by the cats."

Tom Joad walked down to the neighbor's farm,
Found his family.
They took Preacher Casey and loaded in a car,
And his mother said, "We've got to get away."
His mother said, "We've got to get away."

Now, the twelve of the Joads made a mighty heavy load;
But Grandpa Joad did cry.
He picked up a handful of land in his hand,
Said: "I'm stayin' with the farm till I die.
Yes, I'm stayin' with the farm till I die."

They fed him short ribs and coffee and soothing syrup;
And Grandpa Joad did die.
They buried Grandpa Joad by the side of the road,
Grandma on the California side,
They buried Grandma on the California side.

They stood on a mountain and they looked to the west,
And it looked like the promised land.
That bright green valley with a river running through,
There was work for every single hand, they thought,
There was work for every single hand.

The Joads rolled away to the jungle camp,
There they cooked a stew.
And the hungry little kids of the jungle camp
Said: "We'd like to have some, too."
Said: "We'd like to have some, too."

Now a deputy sheriff fired loose at a man,
Shot a woman in the back.
Before he could take his aim again,
Preacher Casey dropped him in his track, poor boy,
Preacher Casey dropped him in his track.

They handcuffed Casey and they took him in jail;
And then he got away.
And he met Tom Joad on the old river bridge,
And these few words he did say, poor boy,
These few words he did say.

"I preached for the Lord a mighty long time,
Preached about the rich and the poor.
Us workin' folkses, all get together,
'Cause we ain't got a chance anymore.
We ain't got a chance anymore."

Now, the deputies come, and Tom and Casey run
To the bridge where the water run down.
But the vigilante thugs hit Casey with a club,
They laid Preacher Casey on the ground, poor Casey,
They laid Preacher Casey on the ground.

Tom Joad, he grabbed that deputy's club,
Hit him over the head.
Tom Joad took flight in the dark rainy night,
And a deputy and a preacher lying dead, two men,
A deputy and a preacher lying dead.

Tom run back where his mother was asleep;
He woke her up out of bed.
An' he kissed goodbye to the mother that he loved,
Said what Preacher Casey said, Tom Joad,
He said what Preacher Casey said.

"Ever'body might be just one big soul,
Well it looks that a-way to me.
Everywhere that you look, in the day or night,
That's where I'm a-gonna be, Ma,
That's where I'm a-gonna be.

Wherever little children are hungry and cry,
Wherever people ain't free.
Wherever men are fightin' for their rights,
That's where I'm a-gonna be, Ma.
That's where I'm a-gonna be."



Woody Guthrie - Ramblin' Round

Dec 2000

  1. Talking Hard Luck Blues
  2. Hard Traveling
  3. Tom Joad, Part 1
  4. Tom Joad, Part 2
  5. Pretty Boy Floyd
  6. Dust Pneumonia Blues
  7. Muleskinner Blues
  8. Pastures of Plenty
  9. Ramblin' Round
  10. Vigilante Man
  11. Grand Coulee Dam
  12. Ranger's Command
  13. Do Re Mi
  14. Ludlow Massacre
  15. A Picture from Life's Other Side
  16. Talking Dust Bowl
  17. This Land Is Your Land
  18. Philadelphia Lawyer
  19. Baby Take a Whiff On Me
  20. I Ain't Got No Home
  21. Gipsy Davy
  22. Slipknot
  23. Dust Bowl Refugee
  24. Keep My Skillet Good and Greasy
  25. Billy the Kid
  26. Buffalo Gals
  27. Chisholm Trail
  28. Whoopee Ti Yi Yo
  29. New York Town
  30. Dust Can't Kill Me
  31. Biggest Thing That Man Has Ever Done
  32. I Ride an Old Paint
  33. Dusty Old Dust
  34. Who's Gonna Shoe Your Pretty Little Feet
  35. Talking Columbia
  36. Great Dust Storm
  37. Buffalo Skinners
  38. Jesus Christ
  39. Blowing Down This Road Feeling Bad
  40. Dead or Alive (Poor Lazarus)

Tom Joad, Part 1