The Tramp (1913) is, together with The Preacher and the Slave one of labor organizer Joe Hill's most well-known songs. 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."
The tune is borrowed from the song Tramp, Tramp, Tramp, the Boys are Marching, a Civil War song written in the 1860's by military songwriter George F. Root. Root wrote it for Union soldiers, but the song was so popular that Confederate soldiers wrote their own words, and both sides sang it while marching. The tune has appeared in several movies, including Gone with the Wind -- and is well-known today as the melody of "Jesus Loves the Little Children."
"The Tramp" was first published in the Mar 6, 1913 edition (fifth edition) of the "Little Red Songbook" of the Industrial Workers of the World, also known as the Wobblies. The Wobblies used songs -- parodies set to traditional melodies -- to help unionize workers. Hill wrote more than 25 such songs and was considered one of the Wobblies best lyricists.
"Tramp" is a track from the Stranglers sixth studio album La Folie. Tramp was originally thought to be the ideal follow up single to the massive hit Golden Brown. However Jean Jacques Burnel convinced fellow band members that the track La Folie was a much better choice. This proved to back fire as it only charted at #47 in the UK singles charts.
