The Ballad Of John Henry Faulk lyrics

Song information

Artist: Phil Ochs
Album: The Broadside Tapes 1

Lyrics

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