Bob Dylan's Woody Guthrie Selection

If you'll gather 'round me, children,
A story I will tell
'Bout Pretty Boy Floyd, an outlaw,
Oklahoma knew him well.

It was in the town of Shawnee,
A Saturday afternoon,
His wife beside him in his wagon
As into town they rode.

There a deputy sheriff approached him
In a manner rather rude,
Vulgar words of anger,
An' his wife she overheard.

Pretty Boy grabbed a log chain,
And the deputy grabbed his gun;
In the fight that followed
He laid that deputy down.

Then he took to the trees and timber
To live a life of shame;
Every crime in Oklahoma
Was added to his name.

But a many a starving farmer
The same old story told
How the outlaw paid their mortgage
And saved their little homes.

Others tell you 'bout a stranger
That come to beg a meal,
Underneath his napkin
Left a thousand dollar bill.

It was in Oklahoma City,
It was on a Christmas Day,
There was a whole car load of groceries
Come with a note to say:

Well, you say that I'm an outlaw,
You say that I'm a thief.
Here's a Christmas dinner
For the families on relief.

Yes, as through this world I've wandered
I've seen lots of funny men;
Some will rob you with a six-gun,
And some with a fountain pen.

And as through your life you travel,
Yes, as through your life you roam,
You won't never see an outlaw
Drive a family from their home.

Ramblin' around your city,
Ramblin' around your town,
I never see a friend I know
As I go ramblin' 'round boys,
As I go ramblin' 'round.

I make the fruit and harvest
And follow them up and down,
But I caint save a nickel,
As I go ramblin' 'round boys,
As I go ramblin' 'round.

The peach trees they are loaded,
The limbs are bending down,
I pick 'em all day for a dollar,
As I go a ramblin' 'round boys,
As I go a ramblin' 'round.

Sometimes the fruit gets rotten
And falls upon the ground,
There's a hungry mouth for every peach
As I go a ramblin' 'round boys,
As I go a ramblin' 'round.

I wish that I could marry,
So I could settle down,
But I caint save a penny
As I go a ramblin' 'round boys,
As I go a ramblin' 'round.

My mother prayed that I would be
A man of some renown,
But I'm just a railroad bum
As I go a ramblin' 'round boys,
As I go a ramblin' 'round.

My sister and my brother
Would both be mighty proud
If I could get a job of work
And quit this ramblin' 'round boys,
And quit this ramblin' 'round.

Jesus Christ was a man that traveled through this land;
A carpenter, true and brave;
Said to the rich, "Give your goods to the poor",
So they laid Jesus Christ in His grave.
Jesus was a man, a carpenter by hand;
Carpenter true and brave;
And a dirty little coward called Judas Iscariot
Laid Jesus Christ in His grave.

The people of the land took Jesus by the hand,
They followed Him far and wide;
"I come not to bring you peace, but a sword",
So they killed Jesus Christ on the sly.

He went to the sick, he went to the poor;
And he went to the hungry and the lame;
Said that the poor would one day win this world,
And so they laid Jesus Christ in His grave.

They nailed Him there to die on a cross in the sky,
In the lightning, the thunder and the rain.
Judas Iscariot committed suicide
When they laid poor Jesus Christ in his grave.

One day Jesus stopped at a rich man's door.
"What must I do to be saved?"
"You must take all your goods and give it to the poor",
And so they laid Jesus Christ in His grave.

They nailed Him there to die on a cross in the sky,
In the lightning, the thunder and the rain.
Judas Iscariot committed suicide
When they laid poor Jesus Christ in his grave.

When the love of the poor shall one day turn to hate,
When the patience of the workers gives away;
"Would be better for you rich if you never had been born",
So they laid Jesus Christ in His grave.

This song was written in New York City,
Of rich man, preachers, and slaves;
Yes, if Jesus was to preach like He preached in Galillee [sic],
They would lay Jesus Christ in His grave.