HANDS
Phil Ochs Lyrics

I've seen the hands of laborers that lifted all the loads
I have witnessed and observed the hands of hardworking laborers who carried heavy loads and lifted them with ease.

And the granite stuck to their fingers as they dug the canals and the roads
They worked tirelessly to dig the canals and roads, and the granite pieces were held tightly by their fingers and stuck to them during the process.

Now they're cleared and the bridges span
The areas that were dug and cleared by the laborers are now fully cleared, and bridges are now built over them.

The river paused for a power dam
The river was halted by the construction of a power dam to generate electricity for people to use.

And now the hand of the laborer is reaching out to you
The laborers who contributed to the building of the bridges and canals are now extending their help to you.

Oh the hands hands hands that worked to build land, land, your land
The labor and hard work of people's hands have built and developed the land we call 'your land'.

The labor of the woman and the man workin' with their hands
Both men and women labored and worked tirelessly with their hands to accomplish the extensive task of building the land.

I've seen the hands of the miners digging out the coal.
The miners' hands were used to dig out coal from the mines.

The black dust stuck to their fingers as they lived their life in a hole.
Their hands were covered in black dust while they spent their days in the mines.

The rocks they're still under the ground, and now their mine is a-closin' Down.
The rocks are still buried beneath the ground, and the mines where they worked are closing down.

And now the hand of the miner is reaching out to you.
The miners who worked hard to mine coal and are now jobless are extending their hand to seek your help.

(chorus)
The chorus repeats the message that the land was built by people's hand, both men and women worked hard, and now people are seeking help.

Well I've seen the hands of the lumberjacks; forests swaying in the breeze.
The hands of the lumberjacks were used efficiently to cut lumber from the trees in the forest that swayed in the breeze.

And the splinters stuck to their fingers as lumber was torn from the trees.
The lumberjacks encountered difficulties while tearing the lumber from the trees and felt splinters stuck in their fingers.

And the wood that came from the timber tall built your buildings from Wall to wall.
The wood extracted from tall timber trees were used to construct the buildings, and structures that make up the walls of a building.

And now the hand of the lumberjack is reaching out to you.
Lumberjacks are now seeking help by extending their hand to you because of their job loss.

And I've seen the hands of the farmers plowin' across the fields.
The hands of the farmers were used to plow the fields, planting and harvesting crops.

And the topsoil stuck to their fingers as the land was split by the steel.
The farmer's hands split the land with a steel plow, and the topsoil got stuck to their hands during the process.

Just growing all they could grow, to fill your tables row after row.
The farmers worked hard to grow as much food as possible to fill tables with rows and rows of crops.

And now the hand of the farmer is reaching out to you.
The farmers lost their jobs and are now seeking help by extending their hand to you.

Oh the hands, hands, hands were working on the land, your land.
The hands that belong to hard working people labored and worked tirelessly to make the land habitable.

The labor of the woman and the man working with their hands.
The labor of men and women who worked using their hands resulted in the growth and development that we see in society today.

Hands, hands, working with their hands.
The hands of people worked hard and tirelessly with their hands and continue to reach out to you to seek help.