Sing Me A Song With Social Significance [1]

Today marks Labor Day in the United States, a day to remember the contributions of organized labor and trade unions (not just "workers", as many more conservative politicians would like us to think). While most of the rest of the world commemorates this same history on International Workers Day (May 1), it's not too much to set aside one day to honor those brave men and women who fought and died to bring us such trifles as the weekend, collective bargaining, occupational safety and health, pensions, guaranteed vacations, minimum wage laws, minimum age laws, that so many of us take for granted (except for those politicians who are trying to convince us that these are "luxuries" that we can no longer afford).

Ah well. As Tom Lehrer reminds us in this gently mocking ditty, We Are The Folk Song Army, even if "[they] may have won all the battles / we had all the good songs."

And the labor movement had great songs. Going all the way back to The Internationale (although if you're looking for an English version, I'm partial to Billy Bragg's), through such classic working man anthems as John Henry and Casey Jones, Pie in the Sky (and everything else Joe Hill wrote), Union Maid (and everything else Woody Guthrie wrote), and staples of folk festivals from Solidarity Forever to Bread and Roses to Maggie's Farm.

These songs were the backbone of the soundtrack to my childhood. Labor songs, yes, but also peace songs, protest songs, Pete Seeger and Phil Ochs and Bob Dylan and Peter Paul & Mary, the Gospel according to Mahalia, the Carter family and Johnny Cash, songs "against poverty, war, and injustice". I'm ashamed that I never realized how truly radical my parents were (especially in our southern Midwestern environs); nobody talked about politics and social justice. Not even behind closed doors.

So the only legacy of my parents' ideals were the values they installed within me; deep, beyond conscious thought and memory, through the songs that were always playing on the stereo.

One of the most powerful images I retain of my mother was seeing her curled up in an armchair in a living room, broken down in tears. My mother was a strong woman, of great self control and discipline; she considered any display of emotion vulgar beyond expression. But here she was sobbing, in great gulping ugly gasps, like the world would end. On the stereo the Weavers were singing "We Shall Overcome."

It wasn't until many years later that I realized that this must have been early in April, 1968.

So tell us your favorite worker songs? Or songs of progressive politics? What songs fill you with pride, hope, and the determination to bend the arc of this universe closer towards peace, justice, and solidarity?

"Ready. Aim. SING!"

--hapax

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[1] Sing Me a Song with Social Significance, written in 1937 by Harold Rome. ↩

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Comments

[Mmy]

Oh, where to start?

There is Leadbelly's There's a Man Going Around Taking Names.

Woody Guthrie's All You Fascists Bound To Lose

The degree to which union songs are adapted to the different strikes can be heard in these two versions of "Which Side Are You On?" Pete Seeger's and Billy Bragg's

[MercuryBlue]

Utah Phillips. And all the pride-in-America country songs, even though that's probably not the politics the songwriters and singers meant. The one that's stuck in my head right now, "only in America, dreaming in red white and blue, only in America, dream as big as we want to, we all get a chance, everybody gets to dance, oh oh only in America-a-a", the whole song's drenched in US-centrism and assorted flavors of privilege but it still makes me want to go out and make a world where "we all get a chance".

[MercuryBlue]

The song I quoted is not by Utah Phillips. Sorry to cause confusion.

[bluefrog]

I'm a Pete Seeger fan, from "The Draft Dodger Rag" to "We Shall Not Be Moved," and, in honor of my sister, the Freedom Rider, "We Shall Overcome," though I think the Joan Baez version was even better. And you can't have anti-war songs without "Where Have All the Flowers Gone" and "If I Had a Hammer." Union songs? Woody Guthrie sang a fine "Union Maid."

We owe a great deal to protesters and their songs.

[J. Enigma (the Transhumanist, who still thinks European metal is better than American metal)]

Here's one from me - Disturbed's "Ten Thousand Fists":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVinwOpllQk

That whole album is protest songs, against Bush and the Iraqi war.

TW: Violence, suicide bombing, war

And while I'm talking about them, no discussion is complete without there... uh... possibly "ill advised" cover of the Genesis song, "Land of Confusion". Actually, I think it's probably one of the better cover songs out there (Not the best cover I've heard - for that, look up "Beat it" by Raintime), even if the animated video, drawn by Todd McFarlane, may be a bit over the top for my tastes. A head's up - this one loads slo-o-o-o-wly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6KXgjLqSTg&feature=related

[Jenny Islander]

I grew up on this stuff! Other kids sang along to the Bee Gees, I was 50 percent Child Ballads and 50 percent protest songs.

I always loved "Gonna Be an Engineer" by Peggy Seeger

. . . I'm a third-class citizen, my wages tell me that,
But I'm a first-class engineer!

The boss he says "We pay you as a lady,
You only got the job because I can't afford a man,
With you I keep the profits high as may be,
You're just a cheaper pair of hands."

You got one fault: you're a woman.
You're not worth the equal pay.
A bitch or a tart, you're nothing but heart,
Shallow and vain, you've got no brain,
Go down the drain like a lady today.

Well, I listened to my mother and I joined a typing pool.
Listened to my lover and I put him through his school.
If I listen to the boss, I'm just a bloody fool
And an underpaid engineer.
I been a sucker ever since I was a baby
As a daughter, as a mother, as a lover, as a dear
But I'll fight them as a woman, not a lady--
I'll fight them as an engineer!

I also love this little one:

Step by step the longest march
Can be won, can be won.
Many stones can form an arch;
Singly none, singly none.
And by union what we will
Can be accomplished still.
Drops of water turn a mill;
Singly none, singly none.

And "Alice's Restaurant," and "Ballad of the Welfare Mother," and from a different decade "What It's Like" by Everlast.

[Winter]

I kinda like "Blowing in the Wind", but only because some hyper-dimensional mice stole the first line as the Ultimate Question.

Oh, and "Sixteen Tons" because it sums up far too many things far too well.

[Redwood Rhiadra]

Right now I'm at Cafe Wellstone in Second Life, and we're actually listening to many of these songs...

[Dash]

"Sixteen Tons," absolutely!

Peter Rothberg at The Nation has an entry on his top ten Labor Day songs. He includes many of the expected songs, of course, but also Dolly Parton's "Nine to Five," which I hadn't thought of as a labor song per se--but of course, what else could it be?

Although Woody Guthrie has already been mentioned, I'll add his "Ludlow Massacre". TW for murder of children and fire. It's a tough song to listen to. I've always wondered if someone had ever gotten any of the Colorado National Guardsmen to comment on his role in the massacre. As in "what the HELL did you think you were doing?"

(While I was listening to the "Ludlow Massacre" again, I saw Guthrie's "Miss Pavlichenko," which I hadn't previously heard and was glad to find.)

[storiteller]

I grew up listening to Alice's Restaurant every Thanksgiving and still do. I don't know if my parents explained it to me or I figured it out on my own - it was probably some combination of the two, as I know I would have asked questions if I didn't know. Much earlier than these songs, but I've been listening to Arlo's dad a lot as well - Dust Bowl Ballads, Woody Guthrie. And it's amazing how much many of those lyrics about the Dust Bowl and Great Depression still resonate today.

[J Neo Marvin]

I humbly submit Union Sunrise by X-tal, which I would like even if I hadn't written it myself.

We’ve had it with slaving just to survive
And wondering what we’re working for.
We’ve had to say, “that’s the way it is”.
Not anymore.

We’ve had no choice but to smile and be nice
And turn the other cheek for more,
Our fates defined by one man’s whims.
Not anymore.

I woke up feeling great today.
I used to sleep in fear.
There’s power surging through us
Like I haven’t seen in years.

Who’s gonna turn your pretty little screws?
Who’s gonna mind the store?
You’ve been taking us for granted lately.
Not anymore.

We’ve seen the man behind the curtain.
He looks smaller than before.
He used to cast an awesome shadow.
Not anymore.

This is the voice of your replaceable cogs.
This is the voice of your tools.
You might find things don’t run too smoothly
If you choose to react like fools.
We’ve come to change some rules.

We’re going down to the bishop’s house
To nail our theses to the door.
We used to be afraid of thunder.
Not anymore.

[Nev]

Here's John Darnielle (The Mountain Goats), singing "Power in a Union" in solidarity with the folks in Wisconsin when all that was going down earlier this year.

[mercredigirl]

Happy Labor Day to the North Americans of the Slacktiverse! (I am curious, though, as to why Labour Day is celebrated at different times in different parts of the world. Hm.)

I have always thought that Lim Su Chong’s Five Stars Arising (1969) captures a patriotic spirit that modern nationalist songs in Singapore don’t seem to grasp. I love its optimism and its pride – of course, it was written less than five years after Independence.

[Jenny Islander]

Well, I actually sent a response to the RFI the FHA published in an effort to unload the quarter-million foreclosed properties on their hands. I suggested hiring unemployed people to fix up the properties, knock them down as needed, look after them until sold, etc., because that spurs the local economy, but I only talked about income tax, not about the extra money a person with a job will spend locally relative to a person who is trying to stretch a Salvation Army food basket. I hope that omission doesn't torpedo my whole proposal.

Actually I doubt that anybody will read the thing. When they get to the first section and see my personal address instead of a company logo it'll just get round-filed.

But I had to try.

[McDevite]

@mercredigirl: American Labor Day falls in September as the opposite date of the anniversary of the Haymarket Riots. Originally proposed in 1882 by the unions in New York, it became a federal (US) holiday in 1894, when 30 states recognized it.

It was moved out of fear that if it fell on the anniversary of Haymarket, it'd encourage radical violence against the ruling classes. Then Czolgosz shot McKinley and Frick got stabbed, so, clearly, that worked.

[truth is life]

It was moved out of fear that if it fell on the anniversary of Haymarket, it'd encourage radical violence against the ruling classes. Then Czolgosz shot McKinley and Frick got stabbed, so, clearly, that worked.

Don't forget the Wall Street bombing...

[Will Wildman]

J Neo Marvin, you wrote that song? It's fantastic. *applaud* Are you by chance one of the performers in the track provided as well?

[Lonespark]

Oh, MercuryBlue, the one that always comes to my mind is "Walking on the Fighting Side of Me." I feel like blasting it against the Tea Party.

[J Neo Marvin]

Yes, that was my old band X-tal. I sing and play rhythm guitar, Mark Zanandrea played lead guitar and overdubbed all that pretty 12-string and dulcimer stuff, Allison Moseley played bass, Mick Freeman drummed and sang, and our friend Carrie Bradley (from Ed's Redeeming Qualities and the Breeders) played a little bit of noisy violin on the intro.

[Froborr]

I'm not sure whether it counts as a labor song per se, but I will argue that it does if you're listening to it right, plus it's one of the two or three songs that can pick me up out of the bottom of despair: The Mary Ellen Carter.

She went down last October in a pouring driving rain.
The skipper, he'd been drinking and the Mate, he felt no pain.
Too close to Three Mile Rock, and she was dealt her mortal blow,
And the Mary Ellen Carter settled low.
There were just us five aboard her when she finally was awash.
We'd worked like hell to save her, all heedless of the cost.
And the groan she gave as she went down, it caused us to proclaim
That the Mary Ellen Carter would rise again.

Well, the owners wrote her off; not a nickel would they spend.
She gave twenty years of service, boys, then met her sorry end.
But insurance paid the loss to us, they let her rest below.
Then they laughed at us and said we had to go.
But we talked of her all winter, some days around the clock,
For she's worth a quarter million, afloat and at the dock.
And with every jar that hit the bar, we swore we would remain
And make the Mary Ellen Carter rise again.

Rise again, rise again, that her name not be lost
To the knowledge of men.
Those who loved her best and were with her till the end
Will make the Mary Ellen Carter rise again.

All spring, now, we've been with her on a barge lent by a friend.
Three dives a day in hard hat suit and twice I've had the bends.
Thank God it's only sixty feet and the currents here are slow
Or I'd never have the strength to go below.
But we've patched her rents, stopped her vents, dogged hatch and
porthole down.
Put cables to her, 'fore and aft and girded her around.
Tomorrow, noon, we hit the air and then take up the strain.
And make the Mary Ellen Carter Rise Again.

For we couldn't leave her there, you see, to crumble into scale.
She'd saved our lives so many times, living through the gale
And the laughing, drunken rats who left her to a sorry grave
They won't be laughing in another day. . .
And you, to whom adversity has dealt the final blow
With smiling bastards lying to you everywhere you go
Turn to, and put out all your strength of arm and heart and brain
And like the Mary Ellen Carter, rise again.

Rise again, rise again - though your heart it be broken
And life about to end
No matter what you've lost, be it a home, a love, a friend.
Like the Mary Ellen Carter, rise again.

[Lonespark]

"41 Shots" made me think of Fred Small's "Rodney King's Blessing" and Baez "The Ballad of Sacco and Vanzetti."

[Lonespark]

...and then thinking of Fred Small makes me think of "Marching into the Light," although I think somebody else wrote that? and then I'm back around to Woody Guthrie with "Deportee."

[sarah]

I love "Bread and Roses," ("hearts starve as well as bodies") especially the Judy Collins version. I couldn't find that on Youtube, but I did find Joan Baez and Mimi Farina: http://youtu.be/oYRcCa-ddOo

I've so many favorites. Someone already mentioned Nanci Griffith's "It's a hard life."

My friends in the band the Psalters do a great "Turn Me 'Round:" http://youtu.be/ntSSQTqTCwg

[sarah]

Oh! Sorry for the double post, but Sweet Honey in the Rock's "Ella's Song" is wonderful: http://youtu.be/U6Uus--gFrc

Refrain: We who believe in freedom cannot rest
We who believe in freedom cannot rest until it comes

Until the killing of black men, black mothers' sons
Is as important as the killing of white men, white mothers' sons (Refrain)

That which touches me most is that I had a chance to work with people
Passing on to others that which was passed on to me

To me young people come first, they have the courage where we fail
And if I can but shed some light as they carry us through the gale (Refrain)

The older I get the better I know that the secret of my going on
Is when the reins are in the hands of the young, who dare to run against the storm (Refrain)

Not needing to clutch for power, not needing the light just to shine on me
I need to be one in the number as we stand against tyranny (Refrain)

Struggling myself don't mean a whole lot, I've come to realize
That teaching others to stand up and fight is the only way my struggle survives

I'm a woman who speaks in a voice and I must be heard
At times I can be quite difficult, I'll bow to no man's word (Refrain)

We who believe in freedom cannot rest
We who believe in freedom cannot rest until it comes

[J Neo Marvin]

And "41 Shots" makes me think of "Bang Bang" by Le Tigre, which has one of the most chilling endings of any song I know. It's just them counting from 1 to 41, and then the song cuts off suddenly.

[Dav]

I have to say, growing up in a hardcore evangelical church, I find "Turn It Off" from The Book of Mormon to be spot on. (Warning: if you listen to any of the soundtrack to the musical, you will spend the rest of the day with it stuck in your head.) Actually, quite a few songs on the soundtrack are spot on, but I won't yack about my new obsession. (Hopefully it will pass soon.)

I got a feeling,
That you could be feeling,
A whole lot better then you feel today.
You say you got a problem -
Well, that's no problem,
It's super easy not to feel that way!

When you start to get confused because of thoughts in your head:
Don't feel those feelings!
Hold them in instead . . .

[hagsrus]

Speaking of Joe Hill

http://tinyurl.com/mu5q9b

sung by Paul Robeson

[Amaryllis]

For someone who's been listening to these kinds of songs for decades, my mind is curiously blank about specifics. So I'll just join in the compliments to J Neo Marvin: it is a great song. And also second the recommendation for anything by Sweet Honey In the Rock. Toshi Reagon is good, too.

...oh, wait, I know, nobody's mentioned Hazel Dickens yet.

Here's Hazel with Joe Hill's The Rebel Girl. The song was written to honor Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, who is said to have responded to a criticism of the I.W.W. for including women in their protests: "The IWW has been accused of putting the women in the front; the truth is: the IWW does not keep them at the back – and they go to the front."

And one of my favorites, They'll Never Keep Us Down
There ain't no way they can ever keep us down, oh no,
Ain't no way they can ever keep us down.
We won't be bought, we won't be sold, we'll be treated right well that's our goal
And there ain't no way they can ever keep us down.

And lots of others. She was a treasure, may she rest in peace.

[Rakka]

Oh boy. I'll probably make a post of Finnish workers' songs when I get home later today, but now, couple of things:

Are Bertolt Brecht's poems used for protest songs over there, as they are here? Not just Mahagonny opera, but the older stuff as well, like "Praise of learning" and "Questions from a reading worker"? I love Brecht. Song of the Merchant is just creepy.

And, if by any change anyone could help me find a song that was in my father's C-cassette of old protest songs I'd be so grateful! I lost the cassette and my father's dead, so I can't ask him, and googling gives no good results. The cassette dates 1985(6?).
The song begins "From Graceland to the Promised Land" and there's a bit "take this bible in your left hand, take this bible in your right hand and repeat after me: I will swear I will give my life for my country, I will give my wife for my country, I will let my sisters do babies for my country, for my country is the promised land, by right!" and a long sting of "kill a [racist slur] for God".

[MercuryBlue]

Rakka: That sounds...cheerful...

[Rakka]

It's delightfully angry and mocking overblown patriotism of the type that's not based on "we're great" so much as "everyone else sucks".

I don't think I can write very coherently about the working class protest songs, sorry. I got news that my mother's in hospital, she should be out for the weekend so it's not life-threatening anymore. Acutely at least. I'll be visiting there asap. All good energies are greatly appreciated.

[Dav]

Rakka, you and your mom are in my thoughts.

[MaryKaye]

The protest songs I grew up with were mostly anti-war songs (I'm a child of the Vietnam era). _Where Have All the Flowers Gone?_ was a favorite of my mother's.

From a later period that also marked me, there's Sting _When the Angels Fall_:

These are my feet
These are my hands
These are my children
And this is my demand
Bring down the angels
Cast them from my sight
I never want to see
A million suns at midnight

Your hands are empty
The streets are empty
You can't control us
You can't control us anymore

I would have sung it quite differently, though (these lyrics are from the Web). At what point do song variants stop being mistakes and start being reimaginings?

[Mink]

More of a 'guilty pleasure' than anything, I currently have in a playlist alongside Bad Religion, The Nightwatchman. Mostly fairly aggressive labor and underclass songs, some not-nice anarchic ones that do have a goodly amount of anger and energy behind them (Now it's clear as a pillar of smoke // And broken Starbuck's glass // Yeah, I support my troops // They wave black flags // They wear black masks.) Some of them are fairly pretentious (Like vegetables left in the field The signatures smell rotten // On the contracts and the deeds That push the race down to the bottom // As they load the rubber bullets, As they fire another round // I'm heading into the tear gas // Dig in man, hold your ground!) and some are pretty distinctly not-nice(In my nightmares The streets are aflame // And in my dreams It's much the same) but again, there's some good energy there.