Oh the winter is gone and the springtime has come
So I'll pick up my bundle and go on the bum
Halleluia, I'm a bum, Halleluia, bum again
Halleluia, give us a handout to revive us again
Oh I went to a house and I asked for some bread
And the lady said Bum, Bum, the baker is dead
Halleluia, I'm a bum, Halleluia, bum again
Halleluia, give us a handout to revive us again
Oh why don't you work as other men do?
How the hell can I work when there's no work to do?
Halleluia, I'm a bum, Halleluia, bum again
Halleluia, give us a handout to revive us again
Oh why don't you pray for your daily bread?
Well, if that's all I did I would damn soon be dead
Halleluia, I'm a bum, Halleluia, bum again
Halleluia, give us a handout to revive us again
Oh I went to a house and I knocked on the door
The lady said Bum, Bum, you've been here before
Guitar chords for Halleluiah I’m a Bum
C Oh the winter is gone and the springtime has come G7 So I'll pick up my bundle and go on the bum C G7 Halleluia, I'm a bum, Halleluia, bum again C G7 C Halleluia, give us a handout to revive us a-gain
Notes on Halleluiah I’m a Bum
Hallelujah, I’m a Bum was a popular hobo/folk song in the United States in the early decades of the 20th century. In 1928 Harry “Haywire Mac” McClintock went to court to claim authorship of the song, and won. He said that he had put his own words to the tune of an old gospel song, Revive Us Again, whilst travelling around as a hobo in the late 1890s and singing for his supper in army camps. The song – originally called Halleluia on the Bum – rapidly spread around the country because the soldiers liked it so much (they added verses of their own) and became a staple of the IWW: the Industrial Workers of the World Labour Union – or Wobblies, as the members called themselves.
Mac said: “There were only two or three verses at first but new ones practically wrote themselves. The junglestiffs liked the song and so did the saloon audiences, most of whom had hit the road at one time or another, and the rollicking, devil-may-care lilt of the thing appealed to them.”
Haywire Mac was a Wobbly songleader and made his own recording of the song in 1926. He went to court to establish his claim against the many publishing companies who had turned out sheet music of the song. These verses were published on an IWW four-tune song card in 1908:
Why don't you work like other folks do?
How the hell can I work when there's no work to do? /
when the sky is so blue?
OR: How can I get a job when you're holding down two?
Oh, why don't you save all the money you earn?
If I didn't eat, I'd have money to burn
Whenever I get all the money I earn
The boss will be broke and to work he must turn
Oh, I like my boss, he's a good friend of mine
That's why I am starving out on the breadline
When springtime it comes, oh, won't we have fun
We'll throw off our jobs, and go on the bum
I can't buy a job 'cause I ain't got the dough
So I ride in a boxcar 'cause I'm a hobo
I went to a bar and I asked for a drink,
They gave me a glass and they showed me the sink
You can find a very interesting article about the IWW and Haywire Mac on Manfred Helfert’s History in Song website.
The 1933 Movie Hallelujah, I’m a Bum has a title song by Rogers and Hart with the refrain Hallelujah, I’m a Bum Again – sung by the central character who finds, then loses, a thousand dollar bill. However it is a completely different song. Rogers and Hart were probably using a phrase which had passed into common use because of the original song, or possibly as songwriters they were aware of McClintock’s recent court case and the phrase had caught their interest.
Haywire Mac also claimed copyright to The Big Rock Candy Mountains (which he had recorded) but lost the case.