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Joe Hill’s Last Will

Hill, Joe


Text by Joe Hill (1915). Various tunes used by several artists : John Neuhaus (with gospel song « Abide with Me », words by Henry F. Lye & music by William H. Monk), Fred Alpi, Chico Schawall (music by Ethel Raim), …


My will is easy to decide,
For there is nothing to divide.
My kind don’t need to fuss and moan —
“Moss does not cling to a rolling stone.”
 
My body ? Ah, If I could choose,
I would to ashes it reduce,
And let the merry breezes blow
My dust to where some flowers grow.
 
Perhaps some fading flower then
Would come to life and bloom again.
This is my last and final will.
Good luck to all of you.

First published in the March 1916 edition (9th edition ; “Joe Hill Memorial Edition”) of the IWW Little Red Songbook. Written in his cell, November 18, 1915, on the eve of his execution.
Voir :


Record : Hill, Joe. Don’t mourn, organize ! songs of labor songwriter Joe Hill

Record : Rebel voices : songs of the Industrial Workers of the World