On a boxcar bound for freedom Where the wind begins to hum Rode a singer with a six-string Where the hills and valleys come He carved the words upon it As the trains they clattered past "This machine kills fascists" He sang out to the last Oh the strings that tell the stories Of the workers and the fight Of the towns and dusty highways In the deep and darkest night He strummed a chord for justice He plucked a tune for peace "This machine kills fascists" A melody's release From the farms of Oklahoma To the streets of New York town He sang it for the migrant With his feet upon the ground For the tired and the hungry The huddled masses yearn "This machine kills fascists" A lesson we should learn Oh the strings that tell the stories Of the workers and the fight Of the towns and dusty highways In the deep and darkest night He strummed a chord for justice He plucked a tune for peace "This machine kills fascists" A melody's release In the shadow of the factories Where the smokestacks pierce the sky He sang for all the children Who could only wonder why For the value of a dollar For the fight against the wall "This machine kills fascists" He would answer every call And as the years they lengthened And the world began to change The spirit of that six-string It continued to arrange A tune of revolution A hollow-bodied truth "This machine kills fascists" Still echoing the proof Oh the strings that tell the stories Of the workers and the fight Of the towns and dusty highways In the deep and darkest night He strummed a chord for justice He plucked a tune for peace "This machine kills fascists" A melody's release
