![](http://d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/805951/721f723c016ac71c9a6c232b194e09e4376d436a/original/fb-img-1712586380576-copy.jpg/!!/b%3AW1sicmVzaXplIiwxODAwXSxbIm1heCJdLFsid2UiXV0%3D/meta%3AeyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ%3D%3D.jpg)
From the recording Songs of Freedom
my name it is john king, from liverpool i came
down to london in the spring for to make my name
for i had learned to work the silver, how to bend the blade
and i was carrying a sample of the finest i had made
i went into a shop filled with fine cutlery
and showed the man my handiwork, he just stared at me
and called for a policeman to whom he then did say
“this man’s a thief, he stole this knife, please take him away”
the judge said “son you stole that knife right up off the shelf”
says i to the judge “sir, i made that blade myself”
but i having no money, he a man of worth
he sent me to van deeman’s land, the bottom of the earth
we sailed out on the foamy sea, never to return home
with naught to do but sit below, chained, to weep and mourn
and sit in our own foulness, starving to our deaths
til we arrived in hobart town, eleven of us left
seven years was i a slave, then one day set free
and followed by a policeman who soon arrested me
from high upon his bench the judge said “you’ll be leavin’ soon”
and sent me to port arthur, that very afternoon
so choose your weapon wisely, boys
i’ll make for you a knife
you’re here in port arthur
for the rest of your natural life
port arthur prison is a place not fit for man nor beast
there’s no escape by land, by sea a man will freeze
it’s here the prisoners build the ships of his majesty’s line
to keep the king in empire, the governor in fine wine
there’s been a killing, no one knows whose hand took a life
we’re short a man to build the ships, a new prisoner arrives
here at the bottom of the world, is what my life is worth
it’s i who make the iron bars enslavin’ all the earth
so choose your weapon wisely, boys
i’ll make for you a knife
i’m here in port arthur
for the rest of my natural life