A Song of My Hands by Barbara Dane Lyrics

(This is a song about working hands)

A lover sings of his own true love
A sailor, a sailor sings of the sea
What can I be singing of
But of my only property
I'm gonna sing a song of my hands

Hear the sound of the midnight train
Echoin' down in the mine
The hiss of the steel and the grind of the crane
The rumble of the assembly line
That is the song of my hands

I'll tell you why of my hands I sing
The kids at home eat what my hands can bring

When towers of steel rose from out of the plains
Did you see my hands workin' there?
All around us the tractors, the trucks and the trains
We laid stone upon stone upon stone in the air
And on top of the job were my hands
My two hands are mighty hands
They're hard, they're strong, they're free
In all this world no man can buy them in slavery

My two hands are my take home pay
And they're how much milk at my door?
How many pounds may my children weigh?
How did you figure the price before
You tell me the price of my hands?

What is the value of my two hands
Appraise them as you've done before
They built your factories, tilled your lands
They've made you riches and they'll make more
What will you pay for my hands

Calculate carefully, ponder it well
And remember this when you do
My two hands they are mine to sell
They made your machines they can stop them too
That is the power of my hands

Calculate carefully, ponder it well
And remember this when you do
My two hands they are mine to sell
They made your machines they can stop them too
That is the power of my hands