Convict 9653 (Eugene Debs) – Bonafide Joe | Official Lyric Video

"Convict 9653 (Eugene Debs)" is a folk ballad by Bonafide Joe about one of the strangest presidential campaigns in American history: in 1920, Eugene V. Debs ran for President of the United States from a cell in the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary. Original song by Bonafide Joe ABOUT THE SONG This is an original song inspired by Debs's story. It's a ballad, not a documentary, so a few details are told the way a folk song tells them. HISTORICAL NOTES Eugene Victor Debs (1855-1926) was born in Terre Haute, Indiana. As a young man he worked on the railroads as a locomotive fireman, and he went on to become a labor organizer and a founder of the Socialist Party of America. In June 1918 he gave an anti-war speech in Canton, Ohio, opposing U.S. involvement in World War I. He was arrested, convicted under the Espionage Act, and sentenced to ten years in federal prison. At his sentencing in September 1918 he told the court: "While there is a lower class, I am in it, and while there is a criminal element, I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free." In 1920 he ran for President as the Socialist Party candidate from the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary, with campaign material showing him as Convict No. 9653. He received about 900,000 votes. President Warren G. Harding commuted his sentence, and Debs was released on Christmas Day 1921. He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1924, according to the Nobel Prize nomination archive. The images in this video are illustrations, not historical photographs. Debs and the other figures are shown only from behind, in silhouette or at a distance. CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro – Atlanta Federal Penitentiary, 1920 0:26 Verse 1 – Railroad fireman out of Terre Haute 0:50 Verse 2 – Canton, 1918 1:13 Chorus – While there is a lower class 1:41 Verse 3 – Nine-six-five-three for President 2:04 Chorus 2:19 Bridge – The guards took their hats off 2:38 Verse 4 – Christmas Day, 1921 2:59 Final Chorus – Ring the bells 3:16 Outro – The Nobel Peace Prize LYRICS [Intro] Atlanta Federal Penitentiary, 1920. Convict Number 9653... is runnin' for President. [Verse 1] He was a railroad fireman out of Terre Haute Shovelin' coal in the boiler's burnin' throat He saw the brakemen crushed between the cars And he swore the workin' man would rise up from the scars [Verse 2] In '18 he stood up in Canton town Said the master class sends the poor man down They make the wars, and the workers fight and bleed So they locked him up for speakin', called it treason for the creed [Chorus] While there is a lower class, I am in it While there's a soul in prison, I ain't free Lock the door and throw away the key, boys But you'll never lock the dream inside of me [Verse 3] They hung his number on a poster on the wall Nine-six-five-three for President of all From a prison cell, he never shook a hand Still near a million voted for the convict man [Chorus] (Chorus repeats) [Bridge] The guards would take their hats off when he passed The killers and the thieves would call him friend He gave away his food, he gave away his coat They say a jail can't hold a man who loves to the end [Verse 4] On Christmas Day of '21 they set him free And twenty-three hundred prisoners cried like the sea They roared his name through every iron bar And he wept and waved his hat beneath the prison star [Final Chorus] While there is a lower class, I am in it While there's a soul in prison, I ain't free Ring the bells for peace and bread and justice 'Cause the dream they couldn't jail lives on in me [Outro] Three years later, they nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize. Not bad for Convict 9653. CREDITS Original song by Bonafide Joe Visuals: AI-assisted illustrations in a 1920 campaign-poster / linocut print style (cream paper, black ink, brick red, lantern amber), slow parallax motion, no strobing. No real faces are depicted. #BonafideJoe #EugeneDebs #FolkMusic #LyricVideo #History