Tom Joad Songtext
von Patrick Street

Tom Joad got loose from McAlester Pen;
There he got his parole.
After four long years on a man killing charge,
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,

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 were 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,


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

Oh the twelve other Joads made a very heavy load
But Grandfather Joad did cry
And He picked up a hand full of in his hand
Said I′m staying with the farm till I die

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.

"Everybody 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."