If I Had a Hammer Lyrics

If I had a hammer

I'd hammer in the morning

I'd hammer in the evening

All over this land

I'd hammer out danger

I'd hammer out a warning

I'd hammer out love between

My brothers and my sisters

All over this land, uh

If I had a bell

I'd ring it in the morning

I'd ring it in the evening

All over this land

I'd ring out danger

I'd ring out a warning

I'd ring out love between

My brothers and my sisters

All over this land, oh

If I had a song

I'd sing it in the morning

I'd sing it in the evening

All over this land

I'd sing out danger

I'd song of out a warning

I'd sing out love between

My brothers and my sisters

All over this land, oh

Well, I've got a hammer

And I've got a bell

And I've got a song to sing

All over this land

It's the hammer of justice

It's the bell of freedom

It's a song about love between

My brothers and my sisters

All over this land

It's a hammer of justice

It's a bell of freedom

It's a song about love between my brothers and my sisters

All over this land

Songwriters: LEE HAYS, PETE SEEGER

© T.R.O. INC.

"If I had a Hammer" was released in 1962 and was sung by a folk group. This folk group consisted of Peter Yarrow, Paul Stookey and Mary Travers. This song was released in the album "Peter, Paul and Mary" and won a Grammy Award for Best Performance by a Vocal Group and a Grammy Award for Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording. This folk group also sang "Puff the Magic Dragon", "500 Miles", "Blowin' in the Wind", "Cruel War", and many other popular songs during that time period.

The lyrics in "If I had a Hammer" talk about calls of action towards equality and the constant fight towards freedom and peace for all. The lyrics evolved to fit the civil rights movement as shown in the lines "love between my brothers and sisters" and the final lines "Its a hammer of justice" and "Its a bell of freedom". This constant fight for equality is shown when the lyrics "If i had a song, I'd sing it in the morning, I'd sing it in the evening, all over this land" are shown.

During this time period, the civil rights movements were very active and the Vietnam War was occurring making many people long for peace. As a result, they made this song to promote peace and equality. Although it was a failure, it did have a minor impact on peoples feelings towards the war.