Here's my transcription from a homemade video found at YouTube; however the singer is Richard Andrews, not Pete Morton. I think I've accurately transcribed what Andrews sings, but of course, I'm not sure this is what Morton wrote. See footnote.


JUST LIKE JOHN BARLEYCORN

Once upon a time, a nation rose
From the innocent turf like a seed.
She built all her houses and she built the city walls,
Then another nation came to make her bleed.
Well, since that day, many nations have knelt down to war.
They've never had permission nor a cause.
Generations come to be cut down by the sword
Just like John Barleycorn.

There are men standing round here with their pitchforks and sticks.
I swear they ain't bluffing us this time.
They've money for their missiles; they've money for their planes,
Their fortunes to try.
Come back; come back; come back down to earth.
Come see all your children forlorn.
They're waiting for the sickle to cut them at the knee
Just like John Barleycorn.

A return to the earth, I call from the wings:
A return to pastures of green.
We've bowed and we've sown, but only mine-fields grow,
More weapons than anybody can believe;
And we're bound by the waist and we're tied to the cart
By the Pharisees with faces of scorn.
If the winds don't get you, then the farmer will
Just like John Barleycorn.


[There's another recording on YouTube by David DiGiuseppe, from his album "Movin' On" (2002). DiGiuseppe's lyrics have numerous differences from Andrews' above, and I have even less confidence in them because they don't make quite as much sense to me, and anyway, the enunciation is much worse.]