Song book published by the IWW. It was originally used in the trial of the United States vs. William D. Haywood, et al. This exhibit was introduced into the trial of Michael Simmons vs. the El Paso and Southwestern Railroad Company through the deposition of John W. Hughes.
UA Special Collections AZ 114 box 1, folder 1A, exhibit 27
I.W.W. SONGS
TO FAN THE FLAMES OF DISCONTENT
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Murdered by the Authorities of the State of Utah,
November the 19th, 1915
Into the night unending, why was it you?
Life that was young and strong, shattered and dead.
Singer of Labor's wrongs, joys, hopes and fears.
Joe, there were none of us needed like you.
We would have given all that you might live.
We from the very thought shrank as from flame.
You, who were close to Death, seemed not to care.
Sinking in labor's flower, murderous claws;
Accurst be the cowardice hidden in laws!
We of the "surging flood" NEVER FORGET!
Know, ye, his songs and cause ye cannot kill?
Into the night unending; why was it you?
Ralph Chaplin.
By Joe Hill
Break your chains, demand your rights.
All the wealth you make is taken
By exploiting parasites.
Shall you kneel in deep submission
From your cradles to your graves?
Is the height of your ambition
To be good and willing slaves?
Arise, ye prisoners of starvation!
Fight for your own emancipation;
Arise, ye slaves of every nation.
In One Union grand.
Our little ones for bread are crying
And millions are from hunger dying;
The end the means is justifying,
'Tis the final stand.
They can stop all speeding trains;
Every ship upon the ocean
They can tie with mighty chains.
Every wheel in the creation,
Every mine and every mill
Fleets and armies of the nation,
Will at their command stand still.
Men and women, side by side;
We will crush the greedy shirkers
Like a sweeping; surging tide;
For united we are standing,
But divided we will fall;
Let this be our understanding--
"All for one and one for all."
Rise in all your splendid might;
Take the wealth that you are making,
It belongs to you by right.
No one will for bread be crying,
We'll have freedom[, lo]ve and health.
When the grand red flag is flying
In the Workers' Commonwealth.
INDEX
By James Connell
It shrouded oft our martyred dead;
And ere their limbs grew stiff and cold
Their life-blood dyed its every fold.
Beneath its folds we'll live and die,
Though cowards flinch and traitors sneer,
We'll keep the red flag flying here.
The sturdy German chants its praise;
In Moscow's vaults its hymns are sung,
Chicago swells its surging song.
When all ahead seemed dark as night;
It witnessed many a deed and vow,
We will not change its color now.
Whose minds are fixed on pelf and place;
To cringe beneath the rich man's frown,
And haul that sacred emblem down.
To bear it onward till we fall;
Come dungeons dark, or gallows grim,
This song shall be our parting hymn!
INDEX
By Eugene Pottier
(Translated by Charles H. Kerr.)
Arise, ye wretched of the earth,
For justice thunders condemnation,
A better world's in birth.
No more tradition's chains shall bind us,
Arise, ye slaves; no more in thrall!
The earth shall rise on new foundations
We have been naught, we shall be all.
Let each stand in his place,
The Industrial Union
Shall be the human race.
To rule us from a judgment hall;
We workers ask not for their favors;
Let us consult for all.
To make the thief disgorge his booty
To free the spirit from its cell,
We must ourselves decide our duty,
We must decide and do it well.
Wage systems drain our blood;
The rich are free from obligations,
The laws the poor delude.
Too long we've languished in subjection,
Equality has other laws;
"No rights," says she, "without their duties,
No claims on equals without cause."
The kings of mine and rail and soil!
What have you read in all their story,
But how they plundered toil?
Fruits of the workers [sti]il are buried
In the strong coffers of a few;
In working for their restitution
The men will only ask their due.
Toilers from shops and fields united,
The union we of all who work;
The earth belongs to us, the workers,
No room here for the shirk.
How many on our flesh have fattened!
But if the noisome birds of prey
Shall vanish from the sky some morning,
The blessed sunlight still will stay.
INDEX
(Tune: "The Star Spangled Banner")
The call now resounding: "Come all ye who labor?"
The Industrial band, throughout all the land
Bid toilers, remember each toiler his neighbor.
Come, workers, unite! 'tis Humanity's fight.
We call, you come forth in your manhood and might.
O'er the land that is free from the master and slave.
And the BANNER OF LABOR will surely soon wave
O'er the land that is free from the master and slave.
Are ground into dollars for parasites' pleasure;
The children now slave, till they sink in their grave-
That robbers may fatten and add to their treasure.
Will you idly sit by, unheeding their cry?
Arise! Be ye men! See, the battle draws nigh!
Been wrung from the workers by parasite classes;
While Poverty gaunt, Desolation and Want
Have dwelt in the bowels of earth's toiling masses.
Through bloodshed and tears, our day star appears,
INDUSTRIAL UNION, the wage slave now cheers.
INDEX
Hark, hark, what myriads bid you rise;
Your children, wives and grandsires hoary--
Behold their tears and hear their cries!
Behold their tears and hear their cries!
Shall hateful tyrants mischief breeding,
With hireling hosts, a ruffian band--
Affright and desolate the land,
While peace and liberty lie bleeding?
Th' avenging sword unsheathe!
March on, march on, all hearts resolved
On Victory or Death.
The vile, insatiate despots dare,
Their thirst for gold and power unbounded
To mete and vend the light and air,
To mete and vend the light and air,
Like beasts of burden, would they load us,
Like gods would bid their slaves adore,
But Man is Man, and who is more?
Then shall they longer lash and goad us?
Once having felt thy generous flame,
Can dungeon's bolts and bars confine thee?
Or whips, thy noble spirit tame?
Or whips, thy noble spirit tame?
Too long the world has wept bewailing,
That Falsehood's dagger tyrants wield;
But Freedom is our sword and shield;
And all their arts are unavailing!
INDEX
We have produced enough. The warehouses are overflowing
with the things we need. WHY STARVE?
By Joe Hill
(Tune: "Colleen Bawn")
For guns and ammunition,
"Our Army" and "Our Navy" dear,
To keep in good condition;
While millions live in misery
And millions died before us,
Don't sing "My Country, 'tis of thee,"
But sing this little chorus.
'Neath the Red Flag I would fight;
Should the gun I ever shoulder,
It's to crush the tyrant's might.
Join the army of the toilers,
Men and women fall in line,
Wage slaves of the world! Arouse!
Do your duty for the cause,
For Land and Liberty.
Her love and pride must offer
On Mammon's altar in despair,
To fill the master's coffer,
The gold that pays the mighty fleet,
From tender youth he squeezes,
While brawny.men must walk the street
And face the wintry breezes.
A thousand miles from ocean,
Where hostile fleet could never run--
Ain't that a funny notion?
If you don't know the reason why
Just strike for better wages,
And then, my friends--if you don't die--
You'll sing this song for ages.
INDEX
By Pat[ ]rennan
(Tune: "Tipperary")
to stay.
For nigh on fifty years or more, we've gathered up your
hay.
We have slept out in your hayfields, we have heard your
morning shout;
We've heard you wondering where in hell's them pesky
go-abouts?
It's a long way, now understand me; it's a long way to
town;
It's a long way across the prairie, and to hell with Farmer
John.
Up goes machine or wages, and the hours must come
down;
For we're out for a winter's stake this summer, and we
want no scabs around.
bum,
You say you've done your duty, you chin-whiskered son
of a gun.
We have sent your kids to college, but still you must rave
and shout,
And call us tramps and hoboes, and pesky go-abouts.
And the long drawn days of hunger try to drive us boes
insane.
It is driving us to action--we are organized today;
Us pesky tramps and hoboes are coming back to stay.
INDEX
healthy old man or woman and hear the whistle blow for
the bosses to go to work.
By Joe Hill
(Tune: "Rainbow")
Into a great big union grand
And when we all united stand
The world for workers we'll demand
If the working class could only see and realize
What mighty power labor has
Then the exploiting master class
It would soon fade away.
Come from every land,
Join the fighting band,
In one union grand,
Then for the workers we'll make upon this earth a para-
dise
When the slaves get wise and organize.
And all the cooks and laundry girls,
We want the guy that dives for pearls,
The pretty maid that's making curls,
And the baker and staker and the ch1mneysweep
We want the man that's slinging hash,
The child that works for little cash
In one union grand.
We want the man that spikes on soles,
We want the man that's digging holes,
We want the man that's climbing poles,
And the trucker and the mucker and the hired man
And all the factory girls and clerks,
Yes, we want every one that works,
In one union grand.
INDEX
By E. S. Nelson
(Tune: "Red Wing.")
And some of you are sad;
You cannot see your enemy,
The class that lives in luxury,--
You workingmen are poor,--
Will be forevermore,--
As long as you permit the few
To guide your destiny.
It is outrageous--has been for ages;
This earth by right belongs to toilers,
And not to spoilers of liberty.
But they have lots of "gall."
When we unite to gain our right,
If they they[sic] resist we'll use our might;
There is no middle ground
This fight must be one round
To victory, for liberty,
Our class is marching on!
We must put up a fight,
To make us free from slavery
And capitalistic tyranny;
This fight is not in vain,
We've got a world to gain.
Will you be a fool, a capitalist tool,
And serve your enemy?
INDEX
hungry slaves! The country of Colorado, Louisiana,Texas,
Michigan, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and all the other
innumerable scenes of labor's shambles? Not OUR country.
By Joe Hill
(Tune: "Steamboat Bill")
You'll always run across the same old Scissor Bill.
He's found upon the desert, he is on the hill,
He's found in every mining camp and lumber mill.
He looks just like a human, he can eat and walk,
But you will find he isn't, when he starts to talk.
He'll say, "This is my country," with an honest face,
While all the cops they chase him out of every place.
CHORUS
Scissor Bill, he is a little dippy,
Scissor Bill, he has a funny face.
Scissor Bill should drown in Mississippi,
He is the missing link that Darwin tried to trace.
He sits around all day and spits tobacco juice.
He takes a deck of cards and tries to beat the Chink!
Yes, Bill would be a smart guy if he only could think.
And Scissor Bill, he says: "This country must be freed
From Niggers, Japs and Dutchmen and the gol durn Swede."
He says that every cop would be a native son
If it wasn't for the Irishman, the sonna fur gun.
CHORUS
Scissor Bill, the "foreigners" is cussin';
Scissor Bill, he says: "I hate a Coon";
Scissor Bill is down on everybody
The Hottentots, the bushmen and the man in the moon.
He says he never organized and never will.
He always will be satisfied until he's dead,
With coffee and a doughnut and a lousy old bed.
And Bill, he says he gets rewarded thousand fold,
When he gets up to Heaven on the streets of gold.
But I don't care who knows it, and right here I'll tell,
If Scissor Bill is goin' to Heaven, I'll go to Hell.
CHORUS
Scissor Bill, he wouldn't join the union,
Scissor Bill, he says, "Not me, by Heck!"
Scissor Bill gets his reward in Heaven,
Oh! sure. He'll get it, but he'll get in the neck.
INDEX
By Richard Brazier
(Tune: "The Holy City")
I saw an army streaming, singing of liberty;
I marked these toilers passing by, I listened to their cry.
It was a triumphant anthem--an anthem filled with joy;
It was a triumphant anthem--an anthem filled with joy.
One union, industrial union;
Workers of the world unite,
To make us free from slavery
And gain each man his right.
Of marching, toiling masses passing on their way;
With pallid cheeks and trembling limbs they gazed upon
this throng
And ever as they marched along the workers sang the
song;
And ever as they marched along the workers sang the
song:
Methought I heard the workers call to that ruling band--
Come into our ranks, ye shirkers, for we now rule this land.
Work or starve, the workers said, for you must earn your
bread.
Then into their ranks came the masters and joined the
workers' song;
Then into their ranks came the masters and joined the
workers' song.
INDEX
Union, regardless of age, creed, color or sex, is invincible.
is an injury to all.
By Joe Hill
(Tune: "Tramp, Tramp, Tramp, the Boys Are Marching")
I will tell you 'bout a chap,
That was broke and up against it, too, for fair;
He was not the kind that shirk,
He was looking hard for work,
But he heard the same old story everywhere.
CHORUS
Tramp, tramp, tramp, keep on a-tramping,
Nothing doing here for you;
If I catch you 'round again,
You will wear the ball and chain.
Keep on tramping, that's the best thing you can do.
'Till the shoes fell off his feet.
In a house he spied a lady cooking stew,
And he said, "How do you do,
May I chop some wood for you?"
What the lady told him made him feel so blue.
CHORUS
'Cross the street a sign he read,
"Work for Jesus," so it said,
And he said, "Here is my chance, I'll surely try,"
And he kneeled upon the floor,
'Till his knees got rather sore,
But at eating-time he heard the preacher cry-
CHORUS
Down the street he met a cop,
And the copper made him stop,
And he asked him, "When did you blow into town?
Come with me up to the judge."
But the judge he said, "Oh fudge,
Bums that have no money needn't come around."
CHORUS
Finally came that happy day
When his life did pass away,
He was sure he'd go to heaven when he died,
When he reached the pearly gate,
Santa Peter, mean old skate,
Slammed the gate right in his face and loudly cried:
INDEX
(Air: "Toreador Song")
The Masters call in vain.
Though ground down pitiless,
We rise again;
And to the call of millions crying from the depths,
We shout our message to man--
And from the hearts of all the land
Comes loud and clear
The answering call,
"We Come."
Through nights of toil and pain,
Oppression and slavery,
Priest, gun and chain,
Law and the bribings of a cruel, despotic class,
We march and sing our refrain--
Singing hopes of a million slaves:
"Workers, unite
Unite."
They offer bribes in vain,
Promise and trick us,
Keep us enchained;
But to humanity's call we answering come,
Chanting our far flung refrain--
And from the hearts of all the land
Comes loud and clear
The answer to us,
Workers, unite,
"We Come."
Though Masters call in vain,
Grind us down pitiless,
We'll rise again.
And to the call of millions crying from the depths
We fling our challenge for right--
And from the hearts of all the land
Comes loud and clear
The answering call,
"We Come!"
INDEX
By Joe Hill
(Tune: "Sweet Bye and Bye")
Try to tell you what's wrong and what's right;
But when asked how 'bout something to eat
They will answer with voices so sweet:
You will eat, bye and bye,
In that glorious land above the sky;
Work and pray live on hay,
You'll get pie in the sky when you die.
And they sing and they clap and they pray.
Till they get all your coin on the drum,
Then they'll tell you when you're on the bum:
And they holler, they jump and they shout.
"Give your money to Jesus," they say,
"He will cure all diseases today."
Try to get something good in this life-
You're a sinner and bad man, they tell,
When you die you will sure go to hell.
Side by side we for freedom will fight:
When the world and its wealth we have gained
To the grafters we'll sing this refrain:
You will eat, bye and bye,
When you've learned how to cook and to fry
Chop some wood, 'twill do you good,
And you'll eat in the sweet bye and bye.
INDEX
By Richard Brazier
(Tune: "San Antonio")
They're known throughout the land.
They've seen the horrors of the bull-pen,
From Maine to the Rio Grande.
They've faced starvation, hunger, privation;
Upon them the soldiers were hurled.
Their organization is known to the nation
As the Industrial Workers of the World.
Then hail to this fighting band!
Good luck to their union grand!
They're all fighters from the word go,
And to the master
They'll bring disaster.
And if you'll join them
They'll let you know
Just the reason the boss must go.
In defense of their natural rights;
They proved themselves to be labor's sons
In all of the workers' fights;
They have been hounded by power unbounded
Of capitalists throughout the land,
But all are astounded, our foes are confounded
For we still remain a union grand.
Then hail to this fighting band!
Good luck to their union grand!
The Boss lives on porterhouse steak.
You work ten hours a day and live in huts;
The Boss lives in the palace you make.
You face starvation, hunger, privation,
But the Boss is always well fed.
Though of low station, you've built this nation--
Built it upon your dead.
Then when will you ever get wise;
When will you open your eyes?
INDEX
By Joe Hill
(Tune: "There Is Power in the Blood")
Then join in the grand Industrial band;
Would you from mis'ry and hunger be free,
Then come! Do your share, like a man.
There is pow'r, there is pow'r
In a band of workingmen,
When they stand hand in hand,
That's a pow'r, that's a pow'r
That must rule in every land-
One Industrial Union Grand.
And live in a shack, way in the back?
Would you have wings up in heaven to fly,
And starve here with rags on your back?
Then join in the grand Industrial band;
If, for a change, you would have eggs and ham,
Then come, do your share, like a man.
Then don't organize, all unions despise,
If you want nothing before you are dead,
Shake hands with your boss and look wise.
Come, join in the grand Industrial band,
Then we our share of this earth shall demand.
Come on! Do your share, like a man.
INDEX
can produce enough to feed a hundred?"
By Joe Hill
with hands and feet.
And when the moon was shining bright, they kept me
working all the night.
One moonlight night, I hate to tell, I "accidentally" slipped
and fell.
My pitchfork went right in between some cog wheels of
that thresh-machine.
Ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ay!
It made a noise that way,
And wheels and bolts and hay,
Went flying every way.
That stingy rube said, "Well!
A thousand gone to hell."
But I did sleep that night,
I needed it all right.
town today;
You grease my wagon up, you mutt, and don't forget to
screw the nut."
I greased his wagon all right, but I plumb forgot to
screw the nut,
And when he started on that trip, the wheel slipped off
and broke his hip.
Ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ay!
It made a noise that way,
That rube was sure a sight,
And mad enough to fight;
His whiskers and his legs
Were full of scrambled eggs:
I told him, "That's too bad-
I'm feeling very sad."
I-Won't Work."
He paid me off right there, By Gum! So I went home
and told my chum.
Next day when threshing did commence, my chum was
Johnny on the fence;
And 'pon my word, that awkward kid, he dropped his
pitchfork, like I did.
Ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ay!
It made a noise that way,
And part of that machine
Hit Reuben on the bean.
He cried, "Oh me, oh my;
I nearly lost my eye."
My partner said, "You're right-
It's bedtime now, good night."
up his eyes.
He said, "There must be something wrong; I think I work
my men too long."
He cut the hours and raised the pay, gave ham and eggs
for every day,
Now gets his men from union hall, and has no "accidents"
at all.
Ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ay!
That rube is feeling gay;
He learned his lesson quick,
Just through a simple trick.
For fixing rotten jobs
And fixing greedy slobs,
This is the only way,
Ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ay!
INDEX
Aim true and keep your powder dry.
(English Transport Workers' Strike Song)
And raise our voices high;
We'll join our hands in union strong,
To battle or to die.
Hold the fort for we are coming-
Union men, be strong.
Side by side we battle onward,
Victory will come.
Banners waving high.
Reinforcements now appearing,
Victory is nigh.
Hear the bugle blow.
By our union we shall triumph
Over every foe.
But we will not fear.
Help will come whene'er it's needed,
Cheer, my Comrades, cheer.
INDEX
By Rose Elizabeth Smith
(Tune: "Ninety and Nine")
In hunger and want and cold,
That one may revel in luxury,
And be lapped in the silken fold.
And ninety and nine in their hovels bare,
And one in a palace of riches rare.
And the forest before them falls;
Their labor has builded noble homes,
And cities with lofty halls;
And the one owns cities and houses and lands
And the ninety and nine have empty hands.
At last shall the morning bring;
And over the land the victor's song
Of the ninety and nine shall ring,
And echo afar, from zone to zone,
"Rejoice! for Labor shall have its own."
INDEX
By Lone Wolf
( Tune: "Tipperary" )
So join the union of your class, determined to be free.
Don't let the master gouge your lives for many years to
come,
But organize upon the job and put him on the bum.
It's the road to Emancipation, it's the right way to go;
For the toilers to run the nation and the world, both high
and low.
Kick in, and do your duty; for it's up to you and me--
It's the One Big Union of the Workers that will bring
prosperity.
meet;
Don't be a servile scissor bill and lick the bosses' feet.
Don't let them starve you off the earth, don't fear their
prison cell,
Make your laws in the union hall--the rest can go to hell.
give;
You must form the taking habit if you ever wish to live.
Postponing meals is suicide on the installment plan,
So organize to get the goods, and take them like a man.
INDEX
By Joe Hill
(Air: "It Looks To Me Like a Big Time Tonight")
A man that is a credit to "Our Red, White and Blue";
His head is made of lumber, and solid as a rock;
He is a common worker and his name is Mr. Block.
And Block he thinks he may
Be President some day.
You take the cake,
You make me ache.
Tie on a rock to your block and then jump in the lake,
Kindly do that for Liberty's sake.
The sharks got seven dollars, for job and fare and fee.
They shipped him to a desert and dumped him with his
truck,
But when he tried to find his job, he sure was out of luck.
He shouted, "That's too raw,
I'll fix them with the law."
He said, "I'll join the union--the great A.F. of L."
He got a job next morning, got fired in the night,
He said, "I'll see Sam Gompers and he'll fix that foreman
right."
Sam Gompers said, "You see,
You've got our sympathy."
The "comrade" got elected, he happy was for fair,
But after the election he got an awful shock,
A great big socialistic Bull did rap him on the block.
And Comrade Block did sob,
"I helped him to his job."
But Block got awful angry and blamed it all on Spain.
He went right in the battle and there he lost his leg,
And now he's peddling shoestrings and is walking on a peg.
He shouts, "Remember Maine,
Hurrah! To hell with Spain!"
He climbed the golden ladder up to the pearly gate.
He said, "Oh, Mr. Peter, one word I'd like to tell,
I'd like to meet the Astorbilts and John D. Rockefell."
Old Pete said, "Is that so?
You'll meet them down below."
INDEX
By Ethel Comer
(Air: "Stand Up for Jesus")
Stand up in all your might.
Unite beneath our banner,
For Liberty and right.
From victory unto victory
This army sure will go,
To win the world for labor
And vanquish every foe.
Stand up in every land.
Unite, and fight for freedom,
In ONE BIG UNION grand.
Put on the workers' armor,
Which is the card of Red,
Then all the greedy tyrants
Will have to earn their bread.
The strife will not be long.
This day the noise of battle,
The next the victor's song.
All ye that slave for wages,
Stand up and break your chain:
Unite in ONE BIG UNION--
you've got a world to gain.
INDEX
By John [ ]Kendrick
(Tune: "Onward, Christian Soldiers")
Slay your Christian neighbors, or by them be slain.
Pulpiteers are spouting effervescent swill,
God above is calling you to rob and rape and kill,
All your acts are sanctified by the lamb on high;
If you love the Holy Ghost, go murder, pray and die.
Let the gentle Jesus, bless your dynamite.
Splinter skulls with shrapnel, fertilize the sod;
Folks who do not speak your tongue, deserve the curse of
God.
Smash the doors of every home, pretty maidens seize;
Use your might and sacred right to treat them as you
please.
Rob with bloody fingers, Christ O. K.'s the bill.
Steal the farmer's savings, take their grain and meat;
Even though the children starve, the Saviour's bums must
eat.
Burn the peasant's cottages, orphans leave bereft;
In Jehovah's holy name, wreak ruin right and left.
Mercy is a weakness all the gods abhor.
Bayonet the babies, jab the mothers, too;
Hoist the cross of Calvary to hallow all you do.
File your bullets' noses flat, poison every well;
God decrees your enemies must all go plumb to hell.
Trampling human freedom under pious feet.
Praise the Lord whose dollar sign dupes his favored race!
Make the foreign trash respect your bullion brand of
grace.
Trust in mock salvation, serve as pirates' tools;
History will say of you: "That pack of G-- d--- fools."
INDEX
( Air: "Lillibulero" )
By Connell
Why clutch an existence of insult and want?
Why stand to be plucked by an army of ravens,
Or hoodwink'd forever by twaddle and cant?
Think of the wrongs ye bear,
Think on the rags ye wear,
Think on the insults endur'd from your birth;
Toiling in snow and rain,
Rearing up heaps of grain,
All for the tyrants who grind you to earth.
In swiftness and strength ye surpass them by far;
Ye've brave hearts to teach you to laugh at disasters,
Ye vastly outnumber your tyrants in war.
Why, then, like cowards stand,
Using not brain or hand,
Thankful like dogs when they throw you a bone?
What right have they to take
Things that ye toil to make?
Know ye not, workers, that all is your own?
Assemble in masses throughout the whole land;
Show these incapables who are the stronger
When workers and idlers confronted shall stand.
Thro' Castle, Court and Hall,
Over their acres all,
Onwards we'll press like waves of the sea,
Claiming the wealth we've made,
Ending the spoiler's trade;
Labor shall triumph and mankind be free.
INDEX
War a nightmare for the masters.
glories and your industries--they are not mine."
By Ralph H. Chaplin
( Tune: "John Brown's Body" )
shall run,
There can be no power greater anywhere beneath the sun,
Yet what force on earth is weaker than the feeble strength
of one?
But the Union makes us strong.
CHORUS
Solidarity forever!
Solidarity forever!
Solidarity forever!
For the Union makes us strong.
site
Who would lash us into serfdom and would crush us with
his might?
Is there anything left for us but to organize and fight?
For the Union makes us strong.
they trade,
Dug the mines and built the workshops; endless miles of
railroad laid.
Now we stand, outcast and starving, 'mid the wonders we
have made;
But the Union makes us strong.
alone.
We have laid the wide foundations; built it skywards,
stone by stone.
It is ours, and not to slave in, but to master and to own,
While the Union makes us strong.
earn.
But without our brain and muscle not a single wheel can
turn.
We can break their haughty power; gain our freedom,
when we learn
That the Union makes us strong.
gold;
Greater than the might of armies, magnified a thousand
fold.
We can bring to birth the new world from the ashes of
the old,
For the Union makes us strong.
INDEX
By Joe Hill
( Air: "Meet Me Tonight in Dreamland" )
Worked every day in a laundry;
All that she made for food she paid,
So she slept on a park bench so soundly;
An old procuress spied here[sic] there,
She came and whispered in her ear:
Come with me now, my girly,
Don't sleep out in the cold;
Your face and tresses curly
Will bring you fame and gold,
Automobiles to ride in, diamonds and silk to wear,
You'll be a star bright, down in the red light,
You'll make your fortune there.
Walks all alone 'long the river,
Five years have flown, her health is gone,
She would look at the water and shiver,
Whene'er she'd stop to rest and sleep,
She'd hear a voice call from the deep:
Girls in this way, fall every day,
And have been falling for ages,
Who is to blame? You know his name,
It's the boss that pays starvation wages.
A homeless girl can always hear
Temptations calling everywhere.
CHORUS
INDEX
(Tune: "Wearing of the Green")
I met a man in Wheatland with his blankets on his back,
He was an old-time hop picker, I'd seen his face before,
I knew he was a wobbly, by the button that he wore.
By the button that he wore, by the button that he wore,
I knew he was a wobbly, by the button that he wore.
And told us some sad stories 'bout the workers down in jail.
He said the way they treat them there, he never saw the
like,
For they're putting men in prison just for going out on
strike,
Just for going out on strike, just for going out on strike,
They're putting men in prison, just for going out on strike.
in the pen,
If they catch a wobbly in their burg, they vag him there
and then.
There is one thing I can tell you, and it makes the bosses
sore,
As fast as they can pinch us, w e can always get some
more.
We can always get some more, we can always get some
more,
As fast as they can pinch us, we can always get some
more. Oh, Horst and Durst are mad as hell, they don't know
what to do.
And the rest of those hop barons are all feeling mighty
blue.
Oh, we've tied up all their hop fields, and the scabs refuse
to come,
And we're going to keep on striking till we put them on
the bum.
Till we put them on the bum, till we put them on the bum,
We're going to keep on striking till we put them on the
bum.
our might,
We must free Ford and Suhr, boys, we're got to win this
fight.
From these scissor bill hop barons we are taking no more
bluff,
We'll pick no more damned hops for them, for overalls and
snuff,
For our overalls and snuff, for our overalls and snuff,
We'll pick no more damned hops for them, for overalls
and snuff.
INDEX
Words and Music by Joe Hill
(Written just before his execution)
sea,
Her mother dear in the cold grave lay; with her father
she's always be--
But then one day the great war broke out and the father
was told to go;
The little girl pleaded--her father she needed.
She begged, cried and pleaded so:
Don't take my papa away from me, don't leave me there
all alone.
He has cared for me so tenderly ever since mother was
gone.
Nobody ever like him can be, no one can so with me play.
Don't take my papa away from me; please don't take
papa away.
went to the war.
He'll never kiss her good night again, for he fell 'mid the
cannon's roar.
Greater a soldier was never born, but his brave heart was
pierced one day;
And as he was dying, he heard some one crying,
A girl's voice from far away:
INDEX
By E. Nesbit
(Tune: "Three Cheers for the Red, White and Blue")
At your peril and cost let It be;
That river must seawards despite you--
'Twill break down your dams and be free;
And we heed not the pitiful barriers
That you in its way have downcast;
For your efforts but add to the torrent,
Whose flood must overwhelm you at last.
For our banner is rais'd and unfurled;
At your head our defiance is hurled;
Our cry is the cry of the ages--
Our hope is the hope of the world.
That strengthen the flood they oppose;
For the harder oppression the fiercer
The current will be when it flows.
We shall win, and the tyrant's battalions
Will scatter like chaff in the fight,
From which the true Soldiers of Freedom
Shall gather new courage and might.
In bitterest stress of the strife;
Or patiently bearing the burden
Of changelessly commonplace life,
One hope we have ever before us,
Our aim to attain and fulfill,
One watchword we cherish to mark us,
One kindred and brotherhood still.
Crowd closely upon us and press?
When a hundred have bravely been beaten
The hundred and first wins success.
Our watchword is "Freedom"; new soldiers
Flock each day where her flag is unfurled,
Our cry is the cry of the ages,
Our hope is the hope of the world.
INDEX
By Joe Hill
(Air: "Sunlight, Sunlight")
I saw a sign "A thousand men are wanted right away,"
To take a trip around the world in Uncle Sammy's fleet,
I signed my name a dozen times upon a great big sheet.
Stung right, stung right, S-T-U-N-G,
Stung right, stung right, E. Z. Mark, that's me;
When my term is over, and again I'm free,
There'll be no more trips around the world for me.
slaves,
The only thing you have to do is stand and watch the
waves."
But in the morning, five o'clock, they woke me from my
snooze,
To scrub the deck and polish brass and shine the captain's
shoes.
I simply plugged him in the jaw and knocked him down
and out;
They slammed me right in irons then and said, "You are
a case."
On bread and water then I lived for twenty-seven days.
nice,
All hands line up, we'll go ashore and have some exercise."
He made us run for seven miles as fast as we could run,
And with a packing on our back that weighed a half a ton.
And many of the boys in blue were in the battle slain,
Not all w be killed by bullets, though; no, not by any
means,
The biggest part that died were killed by Armour's Pork
and Beans.
INDEX
By John F. Kendrick
(Tune: "The Harp That Once Through Tara's Halls")
The happy times to be,
When every man shall guard the plan
That every man be free.
We have no ties beyond the skies,
Our loves and hopes are here;
No holy fool can make us drool
The dismal hymns of fear.
To hope and work and fight;
And while we live, our strength we'll give
For liberty and right.
We make all wealth, conserve all health,
By cunning craft and trade;
We bring all joys, for we're the boys
Of hammer, brush and spade.
And wakens manhood's pride:
All Nature's laws confirm the cause
For which our comrades died.
Some day we'll own the fields we've sown,
When hunger's rule is past;
No child shall slave to feed a knave,
When man is free at last.
INDEX
With others of his class he built the road,
Now o'er it, many a weary mile, he packs his load,
Chasing a job, spurred on by hunger's goad,
He walks and walks and walks and walks
And wonders why in Hell he built the road.
By Joe Hill
But Casey Jones, the engineer, he wouldn't strike at all;
His boiler it was leaking, and its drivers on the bum,
And his engine and its bearings, they were all out of plumb.
Casey Jones kept his junk pile running;
Casey Jones was working double time;
Casey Jones got a wooden medal,
For being good and faithful on the S. P. line.
strike?"
But Casey said: "Let me alone, you'd better take a hike."
Then some one put a bunch of railroad ties across the
track,
And Casey hit the river with an awful crack.
Casey Jones broke his blooming spine,
Casey Jones was an Angeleno,
He took a trip to heaven on the S. P. line.
He said "I'm Casey Jones, the guy that pulled the S. P.
freight."
"You're just the man," said Peter; "our musicians went
on strike;
You can get a job a-scabbing any time you like."
Casey Jones was doing mighty fine;
Casey Jones went scabbing on the angels,
Just like he did to workers on the S. P. line.
For Casey Jones to go around a-scabbing everywhere.
The Angels' Union No. 23, they sure were there,
And they promptly fired Casey down the Golden Stair.
"Casey Jones," the Devil said, "Oh fine;
Casey Jones, get busy shoveling sulphur;
That's what you get for scabbing on the S. P. line."
INDEX
By Richard Brazier
(Tune: "We Have a Navy")
Sing a song about our sons of toil;
Sing of wrongs done to the working classes,
Wrongs that make our hearts boil.
We have always borne the blows and lashes-
No more we'll patient stand,
But on every hand, throughout this splendid land,
We sons of toil will make our stand.
Then in our glory will we tower,
What will be the secret of our power?
It is the Union, the Industrial Union--
Our banner is unfurled.
We will unite in all our splendid might
In the Industrial Workers of the World.
We have a union, a fighting union,
And our masters know that, too.
It will keep them in their place
When they know they have to face
Our union of workingmen that's true.
Beneath the capitalistic rule;
We, the strong, cringing to those men depraved.
In whose hands we have ever been a tool.
But the day of liberty is dawning--
Freedom now draws nigh.
We must unite to win the fight--
Wage slavery then will die.
Then in our glory will we tower;
Great will be the workers' power.
INDEX
thousands of the unemployed to work.
By Joe Hill
(Air: "My Old Kentucky Home")
The horn-handed son of the toil,
He's toiling hard from the cradle to the grave,
But his master reaps the profits from his toil.
Then we'll sing one song of the greedy master class,
They're vagrants in broadcloth, indeed,
They live by robbing the ever-toiling mass,
Human blood they spill to satisfy their greed.
Organize! Oh, toilers, come organize your might;
Then we'll sing one song of the workers' commonwealth.
Full of beauty, full of love and health.
He's talking of changing the laws;
Election day all the drinks and smokes he'll buy,
While he's living from the sweat of your brow.
Then we'll sing one song of the girl below the line,
She's scorned and despised everywhere,
While in their mansions the "keepers" wine and dine
From the profits that immoral traffic bear.
He tells you of homes in the sky.
He says, "Be generous, be lowly, and be meek,
If you don't you'll sure get roasted when you die."
Then we'll sing one song of the poor and ragged tramp,
He carries his home on his back;
Too old to work, he's not wanted 'round the camp,
So he wanders without aim along the track.
They're taken from playgrounds and schools,
In tender years made to go the pace that kills,
In the sweatshops, 'mong the looms and the spools.
Then we'll sing one song of the One Big Union Grand,
The hope of the toiler and slave,
It's coming fast; it is sweeping sea and land,
To the terror of the grafter and the knave.
INDEX
Words and Music by Joe Hill
(Copyrighted, 1916)
In this queer world, as everyone knows,
Some are living in beautiful mansions,
And are wearing the finest of clothes.
There are blue blooded queens and princesses,
Who have charms made of diamonds and pearl;
But the only and thoroughbred lady
Is the Rebel Girl.
That's the Rebel Girl, that's the Rebel Girl!
To the working class she's a precious pearl.
She brings courage, pride and joy
To the fighting Rebel Boy.
We've had girls before, but we need some more
In the Industrial Workers of the World.
For it's great to fight for freedom
With a Rebel Girl.
And her dress may not be very fine;
But a heart in her bosom is beating
That is true to her class and her kind.
And the grafters in terror are trembling
When her spite and defiance she'll hurl;
For the only and thoroughbred lady
Is the Rebel Girl.
INDEX
(Air: "Soldier's Song")
Our hearts shall cheer him and cry "All Hail!"
Our hands shall help to win the fight--
We're ready to fight, we're ready to die
For Liberty.
INDEX
in popular sheet from by applying to I. W. W. Publishing
Bureau. Price, 25 cents.
(Tune: "Battle Hymn of the Republic")
We have seen his children needy when the harvesting was
done,
We have seen a mighty armor dying, helpless, one by one,
While their flag went marching on.
Wage workers, come join the union!
Wage workers, come join the union!
Wage workers, come join the union!
Industrial Workers of the World.
street--
We have seen them in the midnight, where the Goths and
Vandals meet;
We have shuddered in the darkness at the noises of their
feet,
But their cause went marching on.
Where the dealer's fatal hammer wakes the clink of leap-
ing gold,
But the slavers of the present more relentless powers hold,
Though the world goes marching on.
wheel,
We will free the weary women from their bondage under
steel;
In the mines and in the forest worn and helpless man shall
feel
That his cause is marching on.
Catch the cool winds from the mountains. Hark! the
river's voice is near;
Soon we'll rest beside the fountain and the dreamland will
be here
As we go marching on.
INDEX
By John E. Nordquist
(Tune: "Annie Laurie")
sweat;
There are some who never labor, yet labor's product get;
They never starve or freeze, nor face the wintry breeze;
They are well fed, clothed and sheltered,
And they do whate'er they please.
While millions starve and shiver, and moan their wretched
fate;
They know not why they die, nor do they ever try
Their lot in life to better;
They only mourn and sigh.
world,
If the workers fought together, and the scarlet flag un-
furled;
When in One Union grand, the working class shall stand,
The parasites will vanish.
And the workers rule the land.
INDEX
By Ralph H. Chaplin
(Air: "Song of a Thousand Years")
What have ye gained by whines and tears?
Rise! they can never break our spirits
Though they should try a thousand years.
A thousand years, then speed the victory!
Nothing can stop us nor dismay.
After the winter comes the springtime;
After the darkness comes the day.
Beat them to swords--the foe appears--
Slaves of the world, arise and crush him;
Crush him or serve a thousand years.
Welcome the fray with ringing cheers.
These are the times al Freemen dreamed of--
Fought to attain a thousand years.
Greater the task when triumph nears.
Master the earth, O Men of Labor,--
Long have ye learned--a thousand years.
Out of the gloom the light appears.
See! at your feet the world is waiting,--
Bought with your blood a thousand years.
INDEX
By John Brill
(Tune: "Take It to the Lord in Prayer")
Are there lots of things you lack?
Is your life made up of misery?
Then dump the bosses off your back.
Are your clothes all patched and tattered?
Are you living in a shack?
Would you have your troubles scattered?
Then dump the bosses off your back.
Loaded like a long-eared jack?
Boob--why don't you buck like thunder?
And dump the bosses off your back.
All the agonies you suffer,
You can end with one good whack--
Stiffen up, you orn'ry duffer--
And dump the bosses off your back.
INDEX
where he carries his greenware.
By H. S. Salt
(Air: "March of the Men of Harlech")
Hope within our bosoms springing,
Bids us journey forward, singing--
Death to tyrants' might!
Tho' we wield not spear nor sabre,
We the sturdy sons of Labor,
Helping every man his neighbor,
Shirk not from the fight!
See our homes before us;
Wives and babes implore us;
So firm we stand in heart and hand,
And swell the dauntless chorus:
Would ye win a name in story?
Strike for home, for life, for glory!
Justice, Freedom, Right!
Long in hunger, shame, privation,
Have we borne the degradation
Of the rich man's spite;
Now, disdaining useless sorrow,
Hope from brighter thoughts we'll borrow;
Often shines the fairest morrow
After stormiest night.
Tyrant hearts, take warning,
Nobler days are dawning;
Heroic deeds, sublimer creeds,
Shall herald Freedom's morning!
INDEX
the theory and ultimate aim of the Revolutionary Labor
Movement, you must read SOLIDARITY.
By Joe Hill
(Air: "Everybody's Doin' It")
There is something in the air.
Everywhere you walk, everybody talk
'Bout the I.W.W.
They have got a way to strike
That the master doesn't like--
Everybody stick, that's the only trick,
All are joining it now.
Everybody's joining it! Joining what? Joining it!
Everybody's joining it! Joining what? Joining it!
One Big Union; that's the workers' choice,
One Big Union; that's the only noise,
One Big Union; shout with all your voice;
Make a noise, make a noise, make a noise, boys,
Everybody's joining it! Joining what? Joining it!
Everybody's joining it! Joining what? Joining it!
Joining in this union grand,
Boys and girls in every land;
All the workers hand in hand--
Everybody's joining it now.
He don't know just what to do.
We have got his goat, got him by the throat,
Soon he'll work or go starving.
Join I.W.W.,
Don't let bosses trouble you,
Come and join with us--everybody does--
You've got nothing to lose.
Mister Bonehead wants to know.
Well! What do you think, of that funny gink
Asking such foolish questions?
Will it grow ? Well! Look a here,
Brand new unions everywhere,
Better take a hunch, join the fighting bunch,
Fight for Freedom and Right.
INDEX
By B. L. Weber
(Tune: "All I Got Was Sympathy")
Where there worked two thousand others;
They all belonged to the A.F. of L.,
And they called each other "brothers."
One day Bill Brown's union went out on strike,
And they went out for higher pay;
All the other crafts remained on the job,
And Bill Brown did sadly say:
All we got was sympathy;
So we were bound to lose, you see;
All the others had craft autonomy,
Or else they would have struck with glee,
But I got good and hungry,
And no craft unions go for me.
Gee! Ain't it hell, in the A. F. of L.
All you get is sympathy.
And fools there are many, we know.
So he decided the A.F. of L.
And its craft divisions must go.
Industrial Unions are just the thing,
Where the workers can all join the fight;
So now on the soap box boldly he stands,
A singing with all of his might:
INDEX
By Joe Hill
(Tune: "A Little Talk With Jesus")
to eat
And wooden-headed Wood he tried the strikers to defeat,
To Sammy Gompers wrote and asked him what he thought,
And this is just the answer that the mailman brought:
CHORUS
A little talk with Golden
Makes it right, all right;
He'll settle any strike,
If there's coin in sight;
Just take him up to dine
And everything is fine--
A little talk with Golden
Makes it right, all right.
in hand,
The boy in blue, with stars and stripes were sent by
Uncle Sam;
Still things were looking blue, 'cause every striker knew
That weaving cloth with bayonets is hard to do.
He told him how to bust up the "I double double U."
He came out in a while and wore the Golden smile.
He said: "I've got all labor leaders skinned a mile."
stools."
He thought the rest would follow like a bunch of crazy
fools.
But to his great surprise the "foreigners" were wise,
In one big solid union they were organized.
CHORUS OF LAST VERSE
That's one time Golden did not
Make it right, all right;
In spite of all his schemes
The strikers won the fight.
When all the workers stand
United hand in hand,
The world with all its wealth
Will be at their command.
INDEX
By Walquist
(Tune: "Love Me and the World Is Mine")
Till I have blisters on my feet.
My belly's empty, I've no bed,
No place to rest my weary head.
There's millions like me wandering,
Who are deeply pondering,
Oh, what must we do to live?
Shall the workers face starvation, mis'ry and privation,
In a land so rich and fair?
Take back your freedom and your right
You have nothing to lose now,
Workers of the World, unite.
Oh! when, oh! when will you get wise?
Are you still going to be a fool,
And let the rich man o'er you rule?
It is time that you were waking,
See the dawn is breaking,
Come now, wake up from your dream.
All this wealth belong to toilers,
And not to the spoilers,
Wage slaves throw your chains away.
And crush the greedy tyrant's might.
The earth belongs to Labor,
Workers of the World, unite.
INDEX
winter. How about next winter?
By Charles M. Robinson
"Citizen's Leagues" and all that's rotten,
Work away, day by day, nary pay, Dixie land;
Work away down South in Dixie,
Work away, nary pay,
In Dixie land the children toil
And the mothers moil in Dixie land,
Work away, day by day, nary pay down South in Dixie.
Away down South in Dixie!
In Dixie land let's take our stand
And live and die for Dixie!
Organized to make the darkie
Work away, day by day, nary pay, Dixie land;
Work away down South in Dixie,
Work away, nary pay,
In Dixie land it grinds and grabs
And burns and stabs in Dixie land,
Work away, day by day, nary pay down South in Dixie.
Used to be bold, but he's now grown bolder,
Work away, day by day, nary pay, Dixie land;
Work away down South in Dixie,
Work away, nary pay,
In Dixie land he drags white "tramps"
Off to his camps in Dixie land,
Work away, day by day, nary pay down South in Dixie.
Soon results will be surprising,
Work away, day by day, it will pay, Dixie land;
Work away, day by day, it will pay down South in
Dixie.
Work away down South in Dixie,
Work away, it will pay,
For in Dixie land we'll strike the blow--
The boss must go from Dixie land--
INDEX
AWAKING
By Richard Brazier
(Tune: "The Shade of the Old Apple Tree")
The earth is shakin' with their mighty tread.
The master class in great fear now are quaking,
The sword of Damocles hangs o'er their head.
The toilers in one union are uniting,
To overthrow their cruel master's reign.
In one union now they all are fighting,
The product of their labor to retain.
It's a union for you and for me;
It's the workers' own choice,
It's for girls and for boys,
Who want freedom from wage slavery;
And we march with a Red Flag ahead,
'Cause the blood of all nations is red--
Come and join in the fray,
Come and join us today,
We are fighting for Freedom and Bread.
For long in bondage they held us fast;
But the fight the Industrial Workers are now making
Will make our chains a relic of the past.
Industrial unionism now is calling,
The toilers of the world they hear its cry.
In line with the Industrial Workers they are falling,
By their principles to stand or fall and die.
INDEX
thousands to work.
together?
By Ralph H. Chaplin
(Tune: "Marching Through Georgia")
Come, you discontented ones, and give a helping hand,
We march against the parasite to drive him from the land.
With ONE BIG INDUSTRIAL UNION!
Hurrah! hurrah! the way is clear ahead--
We're gaining shop democracy and liberty and bread
With ONE BIG INDUSTRIAL UNION!
We're on the job and know the way to win the hardest
fight,
For the beacon that shall guide us out of darkness into
light,
Is ONE BIG INDUSTRIAL UNION!
fears;
Red's the color of our flag, it's stained with blood and
tears--
We'll flout it in his ugly mug and ring our loudest cheers
For ONE BIG INDUSTRIAL UNION!
But when we hit their pocketbooks we'll spoil their smiles
of mirth--
We'll stop their dirty dividends and drive them from the
earth
With ONE BIG INDUSTRIAL UNION!
Our aim is not to patch it up, but build it all anew,
And what we'll have for government, when finally we're
through,
Is ONE BIG INDUSTRIAL UNION!
INDEX
By Richard Brazier
(Tune: "Old Black Joe")
"We'll work you long hours for little pay;
We'll work you all day and half the night as well."
But I hear the workers' voices saying, "You will, like Hell."
We surely will surprise the Boss some first of May.
If you want a general eight hour day.
As soon as you are ready, we are with you heart and hand.
All you have to do is to join our Union grand.
That's why we've got this vast unemployed throng.
Give every worker a chance to work each day;
Let's all join together and to the Boss all say,
INDEX
liberty of the workers. Stop the endless court trials by
using the Wooden Shoe on the job.
distribution, one and one-half cents per copy.
their own property.
By Geo. G. Allen
(Air: "Shouting the Battle Cry of Freedom")
grain,
To shout the Workers' battle cry for freedom.
And we'll rally from the workshops where millions have
been slain,
To shout the Workers' battle cry for freedom.
Down with Tradition! Let's raise the Wooden Claw.
Then we'll rally from the sweat shops, from brush to Poor
Man's Lane,
To shout the Workers' battle cry for freedom.
To shout the Workers' battle cry for freedom.
We shall stand with folded arms and for Masters slave no
more,
And shout the Workers' battle cry for freedom.
peace,
Let's shout the Workers' battle cry for freedom.
When he dons the overalls then the working class will
cease
To shout the Workers' battle cry for freedom.
Down with the Gunmen! Let's raise the Wooden Paw.
When we've gathered in the Camp, in the Jungle, on the
Train,
Let's shout the Workers' battle cry for freedom.
INDEX
(Tune: "My Hula Hula Love")
By Richard Brazier
Woolen Trust at bay
And won a shorter day, and a big increase in pay;
Where the workers showed the shirkers just what they
could do.
In Little Falls, too, they won the day.
What we can do with One Union true.
For you our Union is fighting, for you your wrongs we're
righting;
Come join the One Big Union, do.
dwell,
Their labor power sell, in Kirby's peon hell;
Where the masters met disaster, when they met these
workingmen who knew
That One Big Union true, could win the fray.
The women in the sweatshops, and the children working
in the mills;
The stockyard's man who kills, the miner in the hills;
Must stick together, in all weather; in One Big Union
they must fight
Against the master's might, they must unite.
INDEX
fight together.
higher wages, shorter hours and better conditions.
always go together.
(Tune: "The Wearing of the Green")
wears the crown,
There are many ways illegal now to hold the people down.
When the dudes of state militia are slow to come to time,
The law upholding Pinkertons are gathered from the slime.
There are wisely framed injunctions that you must not
leave your job,
And a peaceable assemblage is declared to be a mob,
And Congress passed a measure framed by some consum-
mate ass,
So they are clubbing men and women just for walking on
the grass.
work,
The chances are a cop will grab his collar with a jerk;
He will run him in for vagrancy, he is branded as a tramp,
And all the well-to-do will shout: "It serves him right, the
scamp!"
So we let the ruling class maintain the dignity of law,
When the court decides against us we are filled with whole-
some awe,
But we cannot stand the outrage without a little sauce
When they're clubbing men and women just for walking
on the grass.
So the job trust promised work for all who wouldn't enlist;
But the next day when the hungry horde surrounded city
hall,
He hedged and said he didn't promise anything at all.
So the powers that be are acting very queer to say the
least--
They should go and read their Bible and all about Bel-
shazzar's feast,
And when mene tekel at length shall come to pass,
They'll stop clubbing men and women just for walking
on the grass.
INDEX
(Air: "Anvil Chorus")
And we burst all asunder our bonds and chains;
Our organization will win when it strikes,
And no more shall a king or a crown remain--
United fast are we with bonds that naught can sever;
Long, loud and clear and far our battle cry rings ever--
Liberty for aye and aye!
Liberty for ever!
Liberty for ever!
Shall be our battle cry.
And strewn with rocks and thorns,
Then put your wooden shoes on, pard,
And you won't hurt your corns,
To organize and teach, no doubt,
Is very good--that's true,
But still we can't succeed without
The Good Old Wooden Shoe.
INDEX
hang you, but I know it will please you to hear that the
scaffold is built by union carpenters, the rope bears the
label and here is my card.
Of the brave to the brave; take the world for all.
Now you need the light and might to free all homeless
working men,
Look around, all around and see,
Hear the pound, hear the sound of machinery.
How the owners fool you, how they rule you.
Just hear the bosses blow.
Man, you're slow, boss is losing money.
It displaces seventy men. If you cannot speed up
you're fired then.
Go and look, go and look for another master.
Good or bad, you sure will make him wealthy.
It's God darned hard to wake you up.
YOU'RE A BONEHEAD WORKING MAN.
It's a wave, it's a wave rolling through the land.
This the masters fear we are here to free our class from
slavery.
Get a book, get a book, read the word of light,
Take a look, take a look, join the band of might.
Come and be a wobbly, then you'll probably
Not let the bosses cry:
INDEX
the wording, One Big Union. With the design and wording
in three colors this makes an attractive appearance for
demonstrations, and for decorating halls, etc. Price 25
cents each, postpaid.
(Tune: "Where the River Shannon Flows")
tion,
For it is the fixed intention of the Workers of the World.
And I hope you'll all be ready, true-hearted, brave and
steady,
To gather 'round our standard when the Red Flag is un-
furled.
They have bullied and oppressed us, but still our Union
grows.
And we're going to find a way, boys, for shorter hours and
better pay, boys;
And we're going to win the day, boys; where the river
Fraser flows.
actors,
And they're not our benefactors, each fellow worker knows.
So we've got to stick together in fine or dirty weather,
And we will show no white feather, where the Fraser
river flows.
fetching,
And they are a fine collection, as Jesus only knows.
But why their mothers reared them, and why the devil
spared them,
Are questions we can't answer, where the Fraser river
flows.
INDEX
life when ten men can produce enough for a hundred?
By G. G. Allen
(Air: "Marching Through Georgia")
Sing it to the wage slave who has not yet joined the throng
Of the revolution that will sweep the world along,
To One Big Industrial Union.
Hooray! Hooray! When will you workers see?
The only way you'll gain your economic liberty,
Is One Big Industrial Union.
Of sabotage and direct action spread the world around;
They's getting ready to vamoose with ears close to the
ground,
From One Big Industrial Union.
many.
The Silk Bosses of Paterson, they also want to flee
From strikes and labor troubles, but they cannot get
away
From One Big Industrial Union.
We' sing to you to join and be a fighting Union Man;
You must emancipate yourself, you proletarian,
With One Big Industrial Union.
Hooray! Hooray! With every victory
We'll hum the workers' anthem till you finally must be
In One Big Industrial Union.
INDEX
By John E. Nordquist
(Tune: "The Red Flag")
They've filled his manly heart with lead;
But his brave spirit hovers near
And bids each fellow worker cheer.
On high the blood red banners wavy!
The flag for which his life he gave;
The master class shall rue the day
They took Joe Hillstrom's life away.
For brave Joe Hill died without fear;
He told the bosses' gunmen, low:
"I'm ready; fire! Let her go!"
That pictured all the workers' wrongs;
His mighty pen shall rust away,
But all his songs are here to stay.
Must list to Joe Hill's rebel songs;
While angry sabs shall prowl the night
To show the One Big Union's might.
And organize from coast to coast;
And Joe Hill's spirit soon shall see
Triumphant Labor's victory.
INDEX
of the capitalist class" for larger and more intensive
exploitation of labor. One Big Union of the working class
will be sufficient "preparedness" to enable the working
class to overcome their enemy-ON ANY FIELD.
(Written in his cell, November 18, 1915,
on the eve of his execution)
For there is nothing to divide.
My kin don't need to fuss and moan--
"Moss does not cling to a rolling stone."
I would to ashes it reduce,
And let the merry breezes blow
My dust to where some flowers grow.
Would come to life and bloom again.
This is my last and final will.
Good luck to all of you,
INDEX
IN
POPULAR SHEET FORM
OF
the following songs written by Joe Hill:
"The Rebel Girl."
"Don't Take My Papa Away from Me."
"Workers of the World, Awaken."
Single copies, 25c, 5 for $1.00, 60 for $10.00.
I.W. W. Publishing Bureau.
Any wage worker wishing to become a member of the Industrial Workers of the World, may proceed in the following manner:
1. If you live in a locality where there is a union of your industry already in exisence[sic], apply to the secretary of that union. He will furnish you with an application blank containing the Preamble to the I. W. W. Constitution and the two questions which each candidate must answer in the affirmative. The questions are as follows:
"Do you agree to abide by the constitution and regulations of this organization?"
"Will you diligently study its principles and make yourself acquainted with its purposes?"
The initiation fee is fixed by the union, but cannot be more than $5.00 in any instance, and is usually $2.00. The monthly dues cannot exceed $1.00 and are in most unions 50 cents.
2. If there is no union of the I. W. W. in your vicinity, you may become a Member of the General Recruiting Union by making application to the General Secretary, whose address is given below. You will be required to answer affirmatively the two above questions, and pay an initiation fee of' $2.00. The monthly dues are 50c for membership.
3. Better still write to the General Secretary for a Charter Application Blank. Get no less than TWENTY signatures thereon, of bona fide wage workers in any one industry and send the charter application with the names to the General Secretary, with the $10.00 charter fee. Supplies, constitutions and instructions will then be sent you, and you can proceed to organize the union.
Join the I.W.W. Do it now!
The address of the General Secretary-Treasurer of the I.W.W. is, Wm. D. Haywood, 1001 W. Madison Street, Chicago, Ill.