A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall
Jimmy Cliff Lyrics

Oh, where have you been, my blue-eyed son?
Where have you been, my fair child?

And where have you been my darling young one?
And where you have been, my love?

I've stumbled on the side of twelve misty mountains
I've struggled on the slopes of a dozen misty hills

I've walked and I've crawled on six crooked highways
I've walked and crawled through six twisted roads

I've stepped in the middle of seven sad forests
I've stood in the center of seven sorrowful forests

I've been out in front of a dozen dead oceans
I've been ahead of twelve lifeless seas

I've been ten thousand miles in the mouth of a graveyard
I've traveled ten thousand miles into a graveyard's depths

And it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard, and it's a hard
And it's difficult, and it's harsh, and it's tough

It's a hard rain's a-gonna fall
A difficult rain is coming

Oh, what did you see, my blue eyed son?
What did you witness, my fair child?

And what did you see, my darling young one?
And, what did you see, my love?

I saw a newborn baby with wild wolves all around it
I saw a newborn with wolves surrounding it

I saw a highway of diamonds with nobody on it
I saw a road paved with diamonds with no one there

I saw a black branch with blood that kept drippin'
I saw a bloody branch that continued to drip

I saw a room full of men with their hammers a-bleedin'
I saw a room of bleeding men with hammers

I saw a white ladder all covered with water
I saw a white ladder submerged in water

I saw ten thousand talkers whose tongues were all broken
I saw many people speaking with broken tongues

I saw guns and sharp swords in the hands of young children
I saw young children wielding guns and sharp swords

And what did you hear, my blue-eyed son?
What did you hear, my fair child?

And what did you hear, my darling young one?
And, what did you hear, my love?

I heard the sound of a thunder, it roared out a warnin'
I heard thunder that warned of coming danger

I heard the roar of a wave that could drown the whole world
I heard a wave that could swallow the world whole

I heard one hundred drummers whose hands were a-blazin'
I heard a hundred drummers with flaming hands

I heard ten thousand whisperin' and nobody listenin'
I heard thousands' whispers that no one listened to

I heard one person starve, I heard many people laughin'
I heard one person starving, and many laughing

Heard the song of a poet who died in the gutter
Heard the song of a poet dying in a ditch

Heard the sound of a clown who cried in the alley
I heard a clown in the alley crying

And it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard
And it's difficult, and it's harsh, and it's tough

And it's a hard rain's a-gonna fall
A difficult rain is coming

Oh, who did you meet my blue-eyed son?
Who did you encounter, my fair child?

Who did you meet, my darling young one?
Who did you meet, my love?

I met a young child beside a dead pony
I met a youth next to a deceased horse

I met a white man who walked a black dog
I met a white man walking a dark dog

I met a young woman whose body was burning
I met a girl whose body burned

I met a young girl, she gave me a rainbow
I met a girl who gave me a rainbow

I met one man who was wounded in love
I met a wounded man in love

I met another man who was wounded in hatred
I found a man wounded by hate

And it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard
And it's difficult, and it's harsh, and it's tough

And it's a hard rain's a-gonna fall
A difficult rain is coming

And what'll you do now, my blue-eyed son?
What will you do now, my fair child?

And what'll you do now my darling young one?
What will you do now, my love?

I'm a-goin' back out 'fore the rain starts a-fallin'
I'm gonna return before it rains

I'll walk to the depths of the deepest black forest
I'll walk deep into the black woods

Where the people are a-many and their hands are all empty
Where many people reside with empty hands

Where the pellets of poison are flooding their waters
Where water is contaminated by poison

Where the home in the valley meets the damp dirty prison
Where the home valley meets a damp, dirty prison

Where the executioner's face is always well hidden
Where the face of the killer remains concealed

Where hunger is ugly, where souls are forgotten
Where hunger is unappealing and souls are unremembered

Where black is the color, where none is the number
Where black is the prevalent color, where no one's counted

And I'll tell and think it and speak it and breathe it
And I shall tell, and ponder, and voice, and inhale it

And reflect it from the mountain so all souls can see it
Reflecting it from a mountaintop for all to witness

Then I'll stand on the ocean until I start sinkin'
I shall stand on the ocean till it consumes me

But I'll know my songs well before I start singin'
But I shall know my songs ere I start to sing

And it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard, and it's a hard
And it's difficult, and it's harsh, and it's tough

It's a hard rain's a-gonna fall
A difficult rain is coming