Joe Magarac
(Sparks, Woods, Ramos)
To the old steel mill big Joe went down
Joe Magarac
He said all you honkies gather round
Big Joe Magarac
I heard they're gonna build a railroad to Frisco and back
From Maine down to Mexico
And who's gonna make the steel for that track
Big Joe Magarac
Joe Magarac
Joe Magarac
Well there ain't no steel man in all this world like
Joe Magarac
From the Lackawanna Road to the Rock Island Line
went Joe Magarac
and the railroad boss said you're doing just fine
Big Joe Magarac
You know we gotta have some buildings that reach to the sky
And highways wherever you go
Well, I aint done yet and I'm sure gonna try
says Joe Magarac
Joe Magarac
Joe Magarac
Well there ain't no steel man in all this world like
Joe Magarac
Well the melter boss said we gotta shut down the mill for Joe Magarac
He done worked all the ore in the mine on the hill
Oh Joe Magarac
Joe jumped into the ladle it was fiery hot and he waved to his honkies below
And the roller boss said the very best steel we got is Joe Magarac
Joe Magarac
Joe Magarac
He was made out of steel from his head to his toes
Big Joe Magarac
JOE MAGARAC
I was born in a mountain of red iron ore
I was raised in the furnace by the blast and roar
Got no time for sleeping, give me food I can't eat
Hot steel soup, cold ingots for me
Mighty Joe, mighty Joe, mighty Joe Magarac
Mighty Joe, mighty Joe, mighty Joe Magarac
Red hot steel running down my back
Mighty Joe, mighty Joe, mighty Joe Magarac
Now if you doubt my word don't you call me a liar
When you play with me, you play with fire
I'm solid steel and the good lord he knows
If you're tired of living, just step on my toes
I was pulling that shift for twenty nine men
And I had that furnace eating out of my hand
But the blasted furnace wouldn't get enough
So I jumped on in, I'm made that tough
Now when you see a building climb a mile high
And you see a bridge reach across the sky
There's a little bit of steel and a whole lot of man
In every girder, in every span
This version was recorded by the Phoenix Singers
This song was printed in "Pennsylvania Songs and Legends"
by George Korson 1949 Univ. Pennsylvania Press
JOE MAGARAC (Jacob A. Evanson 1946)
I'll tell you about a steel man
Joe Magarac, that's the man!
I'll tell you about a steel man
Best steel maker in all the land
Steel-heart Magarac, that's the man
He was sired in the mountain by red iron ore
Joe Magarac, that's the man!
He was sired in the mountain by red iron ore
Raised in a furnace - soothed by its roar
Steel-heart magarac, that's the man
His shoulders are as big as the steel-mill door
Hands like buckets, his feet on half the floor
With his hands he can break a half-a-ton dolly
He stirs the boiling steel with his fingers, by golly
He grabs the cooling steel - his hands like wringers
And makes eight rails between his ten fingers
Joe can walk on the furnace rim
From furnace to furnace - just a step for him
Joe never sleeps, but he's got to eat
Hot steel soup, cold ingots for meat
Now, if you think this man's not real
Then, jump in a furnace, see him cook the steel.
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