John Will grew up on the green shores of Ireland
Over 260 years ago
But before he could be a man
Out of his country he soon ran
They didn't like the way he believed in God
Sold into indentured servitude John set his sites
On the last place that he'd ever call home
Waves of the ocean he would ride
Be his family's sweet pride
After ten years in an American coal mine
Oh John Will
Someday we'll tell your story
Oh John Will
What you did made us who we are
With a shovel in his hand John pulled black coal from the land
He was a slave for ten long years
But when freedom broke his chains
John's blood rushed through his veins
He could finally be the man that he wanted to be
So he took himself a wife
Bought him a patch of new world life
And he had himself a family
But shots echoed the ground at Lexington
Militiamen went door to door
So he signed his name to the Continental army
And with cold steel John went to war
Oh John Will
Someday we'll tell your story
Oh John Will
What you did made us who we are
John fought hard in the battles for our independence
Spilled his blood on the soil of his new home
But overwhelmed by an all out attack
John found the devil at his back
Surrendered to the red coats in seventy seven
In Philadelphia he was held behind wall of brick and iron
His young wife would come to see him everyday
But John starved to death in that military prison
His family waiting close by
They were trying to break the spirit of the rebels
And they expected all of them to die
Oh John Will
Someday we'll tell your story
Oh John Will
What you did made us who we are
John is buried in a common grave
Behind independence hall
The life that he lived with steep and it was bitter
But I'll never forget the man that he was