If you're posting a song, it's best to post the whole thing, so we have a permanent record of it. There are lots of verses people don't sing any more, but it's still important that we preserve them. Great song, isn't it?
-Joe Offer-
BIGGEST THING THAT MAN HAS EVER DONE (GREAT HISTORICAL BUM)
Words and Music by Woody Guthrie
I'm just a lonesome traveler, the Great Historical Bum.
Highly educated from history I have come;
I built the Rock of Ages, 'Twas in the year of One,
And that was about the biggest thing that man had ever done.
I worked in the Garden of Eden, that was the year of Two
Joined the apple picker's union, I always paid my dues:
I'm the man that signed the contract to raise the rising sun.
And that was about the biggest thing that man had ever done.
I was straw boss on the Pyramids, the Tower of Babel, too;
I opened up the ocean, let the migrant children through;
I fought a million battles and I never lost a one,
And that was about the biggest thing that man had ever done.
I beat the daring Roman. I heat the daring Turk;
Defeated Nero's Army with thirty minutes' work;
I stopped the mighty Kaiser. I stopped the mighty Hun;
And that was about the biggest thing that man has ever done.
I was in the Revolution when we set this country free;
It was me and a couple of Indians that dumped the Boston Tea;
We won the battle at Valley Forge and Battle of Bully Run;
And that was about the biggest thing that man has ever done.
Next we won the Slavery War, some other folks and me;
I beat the chains from off their legs and set my people free:
The Slavery men they lost the war, and Freedom's men had won;
And that was about the biggest thing that man bad ever done.
Next I took to farming on the great midwestern plain;
The dust it blowed a hundred years, it never come a rain;
Me and a million other folks we left there on the run:
And that was about the biggest thing that man has ever done.
I clumb these rocky canyons where the Columbia River rolls:
Seen the salmon leaping the rapids and the falls:
Twas there I built my Coulee Dam in the state of Washington:
And that was about the biggest thing that man has ever done.
Three times the size of Boulder Dam or the highest Pyramid;
It makes the Tower of Babel a plaything for the kids;
From the rising of the river to the setting of the sun,
My Coulee Darn's the biggest thing that man has ever done.
There's man acrost this ocean, and I guess you know him well;
His name is Adolf Hitler, god damn his soul to hell;
We'll kick him in the panzers and we'll put him on the run;
And this will be the biggest thing that man has ever done.
There's warehouse guys and teamsters and guys that skin the cats,
Guys that run my steel mill, my furnace and my blast:
We'll stop these Axis rattlesnakes and thieves of old Nippon;
And that will be the biggest thing that man has ever done.
I better quit my talking 'cause I told you all I know;
But please remember, pardner, wherever you may go;
The people are building a peaceful world, and when the job is done,
That'll be the biggest thing that man has ever done.
Copyright 1961, Ludlow Music
Source: Woody Guthrie Songbook, TRO/Ludlow
Woody died in 1967, but he was hospitalized most of the time after 1954. Could it be that he sang this song for quite some time before the 1961 copyright date? From the contect, you'd think it was written during World War II.
The version at woodyguthrie.org is somewhat different:
Biggest Thing That Man Has Ever Done
(also known as The Great Historical Bum)I'm just a lonesome traveler, The Great Historical Bum.
Highly educated from history I have come.
I built the Rock of Ages, 'twas in the Year of One
And that was about the biggest thing that man had ever done.I worked in the Garden of Eden, that was the year of two,
Joined the apple pickers union, I always paid my due;
I'm the man that signed the contract to raise the rising sun,
And that was about the biggest thing that man had ever done.I was straw boss on the Pyramids, the Tower of Babel, too;
I opened up the ocean let the migrant children through,
I fought a million battles and I never lost a one,
And that was about the biggest thing that man had ever done.I beat the daring Roman, I beat the daring Turk,
Defeated Nero's army with thirty minutes work,
I fought the greatest leaders and I licked them everyone
And that was about the biggest thing that man had ever done.I stopped old Caesar's Romans, and I stopped the Kubla Khan;
I took but half an hour's work to beat the Pharaoh's bands;
I knocked old Kaiser Bill flat, then I dumped the bloody Huns,
And that's about the biggest thing that man has ever done.I was in the Revolution when we set the country free;
Me and a couple of Indians that dumped the Boston tea;
We won the battle at Valley Forge, the battle of Bully Run;
And that was about the biggest thing that man has ever done.Next, we won the slavery war, some other folks and me,
And every slave from sea to sea was all turned loose by me.
I divorced old Madam slavery, and I wed this freedom dame.
And that's about the biggest thing that man has ever done.And then I took to farming on the great midwestern plain,
The dust it blowed a hundred years, but never come a rain'
Well, me and a million other fellas left there on the run
And that was about the biggest thing that man has ever done.I clumb the rocky canyon where the Columbia River rolls,
Seen the salmon leaping the rapids and the falls
The big Grand Coulee Dam in the state of Washington
Is just about the biggest thing that man has ever done.There's a building in New York that you call the Empire State
I rode the rods to 'Frisco to walk the Golden Gate
I've seen every foot of film that Hollywood has run
But Coulee is the biggest thing that man has ever done.Three times the size of Boulder or the highest pyramid
Makes the Tower of Babel a plaything for a kid
From the rising of the river to the setting of the sun
The Coulee is the biggest thing that man has ever done.There was a man across the ocean, I guess you knew him well,
His name was Adolf Hitler, goddam his soul to hell;
We kicked him in the panzers and put him on the run,
And that was about the biggest thing that man has ever done.I'm living with my freedom wife in this big land we built;
It takes all forty eight States for me to spread my quilt.
Our kids are several millions now; they run from sun to sun.
And that's about the biggest thing that man has ever done.I built mines and mills and factories to run for Uncle Sam;
I turned th' ploughs and wheels to feed my soldiers in your lands;
This Nazi job's a tough 'un, it'll take us everyone,
'Cause this is about the biggest thing that man has ever done.There's warehouse guys and teamsters and guys that skin the cats
Guys that run my steel mill, my furnace and my blast
We'll stop the Axis rattlesnakes and thieves of old Nippon
And that will be the biggest thing that man has ever done.I'd better quit my talking, 'cause I told you all I know,
But please remember, pardner, wherever you may go,
The people are building a peaceful world, and when the job is done
That'll be the biggest thing that man has ever done.I better quit my talking now; I told you all I know,
But please remember, pardner, wherever you may go,
I'm older than your old folks, and I'm younger than the young,
And I'm about the biggest thing that man has ever done.