Wake Up John (Hanging Song)

Lyrics

[Intro] Wake up, John, it's time to go (Come along, John, don't be slow) Wake up, John, it's time to go (Come along, John, don't be slow) Wake up, John, it's time to go (Wake up, John) [Verse 1] A priest joins the procession just to help me kneel With a warder at my elbow and another at my heel Marching in the morning down a path I've lately seen I was sleeping with this garden, am I still within my dream? The echo of my heartbeat is the beating of a drum And all the earth is singing with life's sweet hum We filed in solemn silence, shuffled through a door The place wherе life is taken for the lеtter of the law [Refrain] Shake the holy water, summon up the guard Dying's very easy, waiting's very hard [Verse 2] A rope was hanging from the roof, a sight which puzzles me I thought a gibbet and a cart would make the gallows tree But now all is revealed, "Stand there" is the command My feet are on the trapdoor with a rope around my hand And now the executioner is shaking hands with me "My duty I must carry out, you poor fellow," says he A strap is tied around my feet and a bag upon my head And then the noose which separates the living from the dead [Refrain] Shake the holy water, summon up the guard Dying's very easy, waiting's very hard [Bridge] Berry whispers to me, "Have you anything to say?" My mouth is dry, my throat is tight, I answer, "Drop away!" Silence now surrounds me, my heart is beating on The trapdoor hardly moved at all, my life is still my own [Instrumental Break] [Violin Solo] [Verse 3] They stand me in a corner with my hands and feet still bound While a carpenter is called for and an explanation found "The rain has warped the timbers," I hear the hangman say "It's funny but it worked well, I tried it yesterday" "All is mended now," they say, "your ordeal's nearly over Your life's as good as ended," but I hear their voices waver Once more the bolt is shaken, and again, I hang in limbo While the guards jump on the trapdoor And my body stands on tiptoe [Refrain] Shake the holy water, summon up the guard Dying's very easy, waiting's very hard [Verse 4] They stand me in a corner with my hands and feet still tied A warder holds onto the noose, the trapdoor opens wide Is it magic or coincidence that keeps me on the brink? It seems to work without me, "Will it kill me now?" I think "Please, I'm tired of living and I really want to die" I was taken to the scaffold and I heard the hangman cry "Lee, I'm truly sorry, forgive these hands of mine" He drew the bolt, and I felt the jolt the third and final time My life was spared that morning 'cause it wasn't theirs to take Three's the most the law requires a man to feel the stake [Outro] Shake the holy water, summon up the guard Dying's very easy, waiting's very hard Shake the holy water, summon up the guard Dying's very easy, waiting's very hard Shake the holy water, summon up the guard Dying's very easy, waiting's very hard Shake the holy water, summon up the guard Dying's very easy, waiting's very hard Shake the holy water, summon up the guard Dying's very easy, waiting's very hard