It’s A Long Way Down the Soupline

1

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.

 

(Chorus)

It’s a long way down the soupline

It’s a long way to go

It’s a long way down the soupline

And the soup is thin I know

Goodbye, good old pork chops,

Farewell, beefsteak rare,

It’s a long way down the soupline

But my soup is there

 

2

So Bill and sixteen million people 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 General Strike so men don’t have to say :

 

(Chorus)

 

3

The workers own the factories 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 & strong

But millionaires wear overalls and sing this little song :

 

(Chorus)