After looking into it, yes! Joe Hill wrote this song in 1910, these lyrics are from the song “the Preacher and the Slave”. It probably stems from the 1910 Spokane Free Speech Fight, where the IWW was butting heads with the Salvation Army and the government of Spokane
And the starvation army they play
And they shout and they clap and they pray
Till they get all your coin on the drum
Then they tell you when you’re on the bum
You will eat (you will eat) by and by (by and by)
In that glorious land in the sky (Way up high)
Work and pray (Work and pray), live on hay (Live on hay)
You’ll get pie in the sky when you die
holy shit is this where “pie in the sky” comes from?
After looking into it, yes! Joe Hill wrote this song in 1910, these lyrics are from the song “the Preacher and the Slave”. It probably stems from the 1910 Spokane Free Speech Fight, where the IWW was butting heads with the Salvation Army and the government of Spokane
I really hope so!