Tom Rush Follow

JOSHUA GONE BARBADOS (originally by Eric Von Schmidt)
[sung by Tom Rush, Johnny Cash, and others]

Cane’s standin' in the field,
Gettin' old and red.
Lot of trouble in Georgetown,
Three men lyin' dead.
Well, Joshua’s head of the government,
It’s his strike for better pay.
Well the Cane Cutter’s are strikin',
With Joshua gone away.
Well Joshua gone Barbados, he’s stayin’ in a big hotel,
Poor people on St. Vincent, got many sad tales to tell.

Sugar mill owner told the strikers,
Don't need you to cut my cane.
Bring in another bunch of fellas,
Your strike be all in vain.
A lot of misery in Georgetown,
You can hear the women bawl.
Joshua’s gone Barbados,
And he don’t care at all.
Yea, Joshua gone Barbados, just like he don’t know,
Poor people on this island, ain’t got nowhere to go.

And they got a lot of tough fellas,
Bring 'em from Zion Hill,
Bring 'em in a bus to Georgetown,
You know somebody‘ll get killed.
Sunny Child, the overseer,
I swear he's an ignorant man.
He’s a-walkin' through the cane field,
A pistol in his hand.
And Joshua gone Barbados, and he’s stayin’ in a big hotel,
People on St. Vincent, got many sad tales to tell.

And the police giving protection,
The new fellas cuttin' cane.
Well the strikers can't do nothin',
The strike be all in vain.
And Sunny Child cussed a striker,
He waved his pistol ‘round
Well they beatin' Sunny with a cutlass, man.
They beat him to the ground.
And with Joshua gone Barbados, stayin’ in a big hotel
People on St. Vincent, got many sad tales to tell.

Well the Cane’s standin' in the field,
Gettin' old and red.
Sunny Child in a hospital,
A pistol on his bed.
And I wished I could go to England,
Trinidad or Curacao.
But the people on St. Vincent,
Ain’t got nowhere to go.
And Joshua gone Barbados, just like he don’t know,
People on the island, got nowhere to go.