Facing The Chair

I came to this land in 1908

Nineteen O eight

And I thought it the land of the free

But I very soon saw the rich had one law

And another for people like me

Well times were depressed and the money was hard

And I peddled my fish by the sea

Where the pilgrims of old fleeing from persecution

Landed and thought themselves free

Goodbye to you

Swassels

Lane

Goodbye to North Plymouth

Goodbye Boston Harbour

I'll never see you again

The department of justice was

Rambling up

Reds

And one day on the sidewalk below

Salsedo was found lying crushed on the ground

And they said he fell out of a high storey window

And two payroll guards were shot down and killed

At the height of this anti Red scare

And the

Powers that be

Arrested Sacco and me

And now we are facing the chair

Well our jury God help us what chance did they have

When the cruel judge called us low breed

He was heard to declare：They should get the chair

They're Reds and what more do you need

And for 7 long years we languished in jail

While appeals for a retrial were made

And the Madeiros' confession it made no impression

On judge Webster Thayer's crusade

No Well a dog that kills chicken you wouldn't convict

On the evidence judge that you've heard

But you showed no concern while these two witches burn

Ed

For preaching the dangerous word

And your governments judge differ only in

Mean

To victimise trick and repress

And a change of error and a change of evil

Is taken by many as progress

If these things hadn't happened we might have lived out our lives

Conversing with scornful men

We might have died alone unmarked unknown

Failures again and again

But our death and our pain will not be in vain

And your crimes they will never be

Blurred

Oh what makes you think as you stand on the brink

That you'll always be ruling this world