Rock Poetry Line by Line

"If I Were a Carpenter"

“If I Were a Carpenter,” 1967,

Lyrics and music by Tim Hardin,

From Tim Hardin 2.

 

I never knew you, James Timothy Hardin,

I heard your work sung by Bobby Darin.

Tim Hardin, I researched, read about you,

We lost Bobby Darin; we lost you too.

You served in Viet Nam, you fought for us.

There was acquainted with heroin thus,

Battled addiction, finally missed the bus,

Left behind your musical writes for us. 

“If I Were a Carpenter”

If I were a carpenter and you were a lady, 
Would you marry me anyway? Would you have my baby? 
If a tinker were my trade, would you still find me, 
Carrying the pots I make, following behind me? 
Save my love for sorrow, save a love for lonely. 
I give you my tomorrow; love me only. 

If I worked my hands in wood, would you still love me? 
Answer me, quick: "Tim, I could.”  I'd put you above me. 
If I were a miller, at a mill wheel grinding 
Would you miss your colored blouse, your soft shoes shining? 
Save my love for loneliness; save my love for sorrow. 
I give you my onliness; give me your tomorrow. 

If I were a carpenter and you were a lady, 
Would you marry me anyway? Would you have my baby? 
Would you marry me anyway? Would you have my baby?

.

Tim Hardin’s “If I Were a Carpenter” has been covered

not only by Bobby Darin, but by The Four Tops, Bob Seger,

Led Zeppelin, and Johnny Cash and June Carter.  Hardin

performed his poem/song live at Woodstock in 1969.  His

stage fright and addiction limited his live performances.

In my readings, I found that other songs by Hardin are big

hits that we all know, covered by famous artists.

“If I Were a Carpenter” is classified as a folk song.  When

I hear Hardin’s own rendition of his song, I am struck with

the bluesy undertones of the lyrics, the haunting aura of his

guitar and the intimacy of these utterly romantic lyrics.

The words were a problem.  All of the covering artists revised

and adjusted the lyrics for their own purposes. I was unable

to find the exact lyrics as written by Hardin. So, I listened over

and over again to the spare and to the point words in the

video I have provided, editing for exactness the artistic covers.  

If you are unable to view this video, please

go to @https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RrRajjlo6M

and hear Hardin as you read.

“If I were a carpenter and you were a lady/ Would you marry

 me anyway?  Would you have my baby?”

He wants to know if the “lady” he loves could overlook his humble

 tradesman occupation, and love him enough to “marry” him

 “anyway” and “have” his “baby.”  He is sensitive to the fact

 that for a woman to want, bear, birth, and love a man’s baby

 proves the ultimate love of a woman for a man. This is the kind of

love he looks for from her. His questions, though posed simply,

are deep and complex.

If a tinker were my trade, would you still find me, 
Carrying the pots I make, following behind me? 
Save my love for sorrow, save a love for lonely. 
I give you my tomorrow; love me only.

Would she still “find” him, follow “behind” him, support him

though he feels inadequate in the material things he can

provide?  He loves her, tells her to “save my love for sorrow,

save a love for lonely.” He will give her his “tomorrow,” if

she will “love [him] only.”

 If I worked my hands in wood, would you still love me? 
Answer me, quick: "Tim, I could.”  I'd put you above me. 
If I were a miller, at a mill wheel grinding 
Would you miss your colored blouse, your soft shoes shining? 
Save my love for loneliness; save my love for sorrow. 
I give you my onliness; give me your tomorrow. 

Would she still love him, his wood-worked hands creating

sawdust that coats her “colored blouse” and dulls the shine

of her “soft shoes?”  If she could answer that she could, he

would “put her above [him],” the lady up on a pedestal,

revered by him always.  If she would “save [his] love for

loneliness; save [his] love for sorrow,” he will give his “onliness,”

love her only.  He wants her to give him her “tomorrow.”  Hardin

coined a new noun: “onliness,” a brilliant way of promising fidelity.

“If I Were a Carpenter” ends with the poignant questions posed

in the beginning of this moving, emotive poem/song, questions

that put hope in the heart and stars in the eyes of the young girl

that was me.

It saddens me to think of Hardin’s loss at age thirty-nine, gone

without ever finding the “lady” who would love him regardless,

completely, and “have” his baby.