The ballad of john henry faulk lyrics

Artist  : Phil ochs 
Song : The ballad of john henry faulk
 
I’ll tell you the story of john henry faulk.
I’ll tell you of his trials and the troubled
trail he walked,
And I’ll tell of the tyrants, the ones you never
see:
Murder is the role they play and hatred is their
fee.

On the tv and the radio john henry faulk was
known.
He talked to many thousands with a mind that was
his own,
But he could not close his eyes when the lists
were passed around,
So he tried to move the union to tear the
blacklist down.

His friends they tried to warn him he was headin’
for a fall.
If he spoke against the blacklist he had no
chance at all,
But he laughed away their warnings and he laughed
away their fears:
For how could lies destroy the work of many
honest years? 

Then slowly, oh so slowly, his life began to
change.
People would avoid his eyes, his friends were
actin’ strange,
And he finally saw the power of the hidden poison
pen
When they told him that his job was through, he’d
never work again.

And he could not believe what his sad eyes had
found.
He stared in disbelief as his world came tumblin’
down,
And as the noose grew tighter, at last the trap
was clear:
For every place he turned to go, that list would
soon be there
-- oh, that list.

And is there any bottom to the fears that grow
inside? 
Is there any bottom to the hate that you must
hide? 
And is there any end to your long road of
despair? 
Is there any end to the pain that you must bear?


His wife and children trembled, the time was
runnin’ short,
When a man of law got on their side and took them
into court,
And there upon the stand they could not hide
behind their eyes,
And the cancer of the fascist was displayed
before our eyes.

Hey, you blacklist, you blacklist, I’ve seen what
you have done.
I’ve seen the men you’ve ruined and the lives
you’ve tried to run,
But the one thing that I’ve found is, the only
ones you spare
Are those that do not have a brain, or those that
do not care.

And you men who point your fingers and spread
your lies around,
You men who left your souls behind and drag us to
the ground,
You can put my name right down there, I will not
try to hide --
For if there’s one man on the blacklist, I’ll be
right there by his side.

For I’d rather go hungry to beg upon the streets
Than earn my bread on dead men’s souls and crawl
beneath your feet.
And I will not play your hater’s game and hate
you in return,
For it’s only through the love of man the
blacklist can be burned.