Best Jesus sing, in my opinion
Jim Carroll

D2 THE BALLAD OF THE CARPENTER
(Ewan MacColl, 1954)
Written on the way to a Christmas party,

alternative title: "The Carpenter"
words and music: Ewan MacColl

Jesus was a working man,
A hero you shall hear;
Born in the slums of Bethlehem
At the turning of the year,
Yes, the turning of the year.

When Jesus was a little boy
The streets rang with his name,
For he argued with the aldermen
And he put 'em all to shame,
Yes, he put them all to shame.

His father he apprenticed him
A carpenter to be,
To plane and drill and work with skill
In the town of Galilee,
Yes, the town of Galilee.

He became a roving journeyman
And he wandered far and wide,
And he saw how wealth and poverty
Live always side by side,
Yes, always side by side.

He said, 'Come all you working men,
You farmers and weavers, too;
If you will only organise,
The world belongs to you,
Yes, the world belongs to you.'

So the fishermen sent two delegates
And the farmers and weavers, too;
And they formed a working committee of twelve
To see the struggle through,
Yes, to see the struggle through.

When the rich men heard what the carpenter had done,
To the Roman troops they ran;
Saying 'Put this rebel, Jesus, down,
He's a menace to God and man,
Yes, a menace to God and man.'

The commander of the occupying troops,
He laughed and then he said:
'There's a cross to spare on Calvary Hill,
By the weekend he'll be dead,
Yes, by the weekend he'll be dead.'

Now, Jesus walked among the poor
For the poor were his own kind;
And they wouldn't let the cops get near enough
To take him from behind,
Yes, to take him from behind.

So they hired a man of the traitor's trade
And a stool pigeon was he;
And he sold his brother to the butcher's men
For a fistful of silver money,
A fistful of money.

Jesus lay in the prison cell.
They beat him and offered him bribes
To desert the cause of his own poor folk
And work for the rich men's tribe,
Yes, work for the rich men's tribe.

The sweat stood out upon his brow
And the blood was in his eye,
And they nailed his body to the Roman cross
And they laughed as they watched him die,
Yes, they laughed as they watched him die.

Two-thousand years have passed and gone
And many a hero, too;
And the dream of this poor carpenter,
It's time it was coming true,
Yes, it's time it was coming true.