Two Good Arms

Who will remember the hand so white and fine
That touch the finest linen, that pour the finest wine?
Who will remember the genteel words they spoke
To name the lives of two good men a nuisance or a joke?

All who know these two good arms
Know I never had to rob or kill
I can live by my own two hands and live well

And all my life, I have struggled
To rid the earth of all such crime

Who will remember
Judge Webster there, one hand on the gavel
The other resting on his chair?
Who will remember the hateful words he said
Speaking to the living in the language of the dead?

All who know these two good arms
Know I never had to rob or kill
I can live by my own two hands and live well

And all my life, I have struggled
To rid the earth of all such crime

Who will remember the hand upon the switch
That took the lives of two good men
In the service of the rich?
Who will remember the one that gave the nod
Or the chaplain standing near at hand to invoke the name of God?

We will remember this good shoemaker
We will remember this poor fish peddler
We will remember all the strong arms and hands
That never once found justice in the hands that ruled this land

And all who knew these two good men
Knew they never had to rob or kill
Each had lived by his own two hands, and they lived well

And all their lives, they had struggled
To rid the earth of all such crime
And all our lives, we must struggle
To rid the earth of all such crime