Tom Paine’s Bones

By G. Moore; arrangement by Isembard’s Wheel

Oh, as I dreamed that one evening,

by a river of discontent,

I bumped straight into old Tom Paine,

as running down the road he went.

He said, “I can’t stop right now child,

King George is after me.

He’d have a rope up around my throat,

and hang me on the Liberty Tree.”

I will dance to Tom Paine’s bones,

dance to Tom Paine’s bones,

I’ll dance in the oldest boots I own,

to the rhythm of Tom Paine’s bones.

I only talked about freedom,

and justice for everyone,

But since the very first word I spoke,

I’ve been looking down the barrel of a gun.

And they say I preached revolution,

let me say in my defence,

That all I did wherever I went,

is talk a lot of ‘Common Sense’.

Old Tom Paine, he ran so fast,

that he left me standing still.

And lo’ I found a piece of paper in my hand,

standing at the top of the hill.

And it said, “This is ‘The Age of Reason’,

these are ‘The Rights of Man’.

Kick off religion and the monarchy,”

it was written there in Tom Paine’s plan.

Well, now old Tom Paine, where he lies,

nobody laughs and nobody cries.

Where he’s gone or how he fares,

nobody knows, nobody cares.