Tom Mooney Is Free
Words and Music by Woody Guthrie
Contact Publisher - Woody Guthrie Publications/BMG Chrysalis

Mister Tom Mooney is free!
Mister Tom Mooney is free!
Done got a pardon from that old jailhouse,
Mister Culbert L. Olsen's decree.

How does it feel to be free?
How does it feel to be free?
How does it feel just to be out of jail,
Since the gov'ner has got your liberty?

It was way up in old Frisco town,
It was way up in old Frisco town,
Mr. Mooney and Billings was accused of a killing
And railroaded jail house bound.

Twenty two years have gone by,
Twenty two years have gone by,
And he spent the twenty two fer a crime he didn't do,
My! My! My! My!

Well the Truth caint be tied with a chain.
Well the Truth caint be tied with a chain.
From the cold clammy halls of the San Quentin walls,
Mister Tom Mooney is Free.

It was Culbert L. Olsen's decree!
It was Culbert L. Olsen's decree!
When he took that gov'nors chair, he said, I declare,
I got to set this state of California free.


© Copyright 1967 (renewed) by Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc.
Available on:
Album cover art where song appears