The song appeared in Volume 25 #1 of Sing Out! Magazine (May/June 1976), along with an obituary for Phil Ochs. [Phil Ochs took his own life April 9, 1976]

WHEN I'M GONE (from Sing Out! Vol 25 #1)
(Phil Ochs)

There's no place in this world where I'll belong, when I'm gone
And I won't know the right from the wrong, when I'm gone
And you won't find me singin' on this song, when I'm gone
So I guess I'll have to do it while I'm here

And I won't feel the flowing of the time, when I'm gone
All the pleasures of love will not be mine, when I'm gone
My pen won't pour a lyric line, when I'm gone
So I guess I'll have to do it while I'm here

And I won't breathe the brandy air, when I'm gone
And I can't even worry 'bout my cares, when I'm gone
Won't be asked to do my share, when I'm gone
So I guess I'll have to do it while I'm here

And I won't be running from the rain, when I'm gone
And I can't even suffer from the pain, when I'm gone
There's nothing I can lose or I can gain, when I'm gone
So I guess I'll have to do it while I'm here

Won't see the golden of the sun, when I'm gone
And the evenings and the mornings will be one, when I'm gone
Can't be singing louder than the guns, when I'm gone
So I guess I'll have to do it while I'm here

All my days won't be dances of delight, when I'm gone
And the sands will be shifting from my sight, when I'm gone
Can't add my name into the fight when I'm gone
So I guess I'll have to do it while I'm here

And I won't be laughing at the lies, when I'm gone
And I can't question how or when or why, when I'm gone
Can't live proud enough to die, when I'm gone
So I guess I'll have to do it while I'm here

There's no place in this world where I'll belong, when I'm gone
And I won't know the right from the wrong, when I'm gone
And you won't find me singin' on this song, when I'm gone
So I guess I'll have to do it, I guess I'll have to do it it, guess I'll have to do it while I'm here


©1966, 1968, by Barricade Music

This version is also in the Rise Up Singing Songbook, published by Sing Out!. This is the version in the live performance I found by Phil Ochs and Arlo Guthrie.

Lyrics that differ from the Digital Tradition are in bold.