"The Tramp" (1913) is, together with "The Preacher and the Slave," one of labor organizer Joe Hill's most well-known songs.
[1][2] The lyrics tell about an able-bodied but unemployed man who wanders around looking for work, but is not welcome anywhere – even in church, Heaven, and Hell – and thus must "keep on a-tramping".
", an American Civil War song written in the 1860s by military songwriter George F.
That song has appeared in several movies, including Gone with the Wind, and the tune is well-known today as the melody of the Sunday School standard "Jesus Loves the Little Children".
[3] The Wobblies used songs – parodies set to traditional melodies – to help unionize workers.