Songs about labor, working, unions,the struggle against tyranny etc...

[Bennyboy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziwsjE1O4Ow

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPPgeDhGzKY&ob=av2e



As soon as your born they make you feel small,
By giving you no time instead of it all,
Till the pain is so big you feel nothing at all,
A working class hero is something to be,
A working class hero is something to be.
They hurt you at home and they hit you at school,
They hate you if you're clever and they despise a fool,
Till you're so fucking crazy you can't follow their rules,
A working class hero is something to be,
A working class hero is something to be.
When they've tortured and scared you for twenty odd years,
Then they expect you to pick a career,
When you can't really function you're so full of fear,
A working class hero is something to be,
A working class hero is something to be.
Keep you doped with religion and sex and TV,
And you think you're so clever and classless and free,
But you're still fucking peasents as far as I can see,
A working class hero is something to be,
A working class hero is something to be.
There's room at the top they are telling you still,
But first you must learn how to smile as you kill,
If you want to be like the folks on the hill,
A working class hero is something to be.
A working class hero is something to be.
If you want to be a hero well just follow me,
If you want to be a hero well just follow me.

[Bennyboy]

1. Dirty Business.....

New Riders OF The Purple Sage (With Jerry garcia playing the nastiest steel guitar ever)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJdq0OcRK3o


RIP John "Marmaduke" Dawson.


WELL THE MARSHALL CAME TO TOWN
AND HIS HAT WAS PULLED WAY DOWN
HE LOOKED LIKE HE HAD BUSINESS ON HIS MIND
HE DIDN’T STOP TO SAY
HE JUST RODE ALONG HIS WAY
‘TIL HE STOPPED IN AT THE OFFICE OF THE MINE

CHORUS:
DIRTY BUSINESS, DIRTY BUSINESS
DIRTY BUSINESS DOWN IN COAL CREEK
DIRTY BUSINESS DOWN IN COAL CREEK
THIS MORNING

WELL, I MAKE TWO BUCKS A DAY
AND THAT AIN’T A HEALTHY PAY
MY KIDS ARE JUST BEGINNING TO GET SICK
THERE’S TALK BEEN GOIN’ ROUND
HOW THEY’RE GONNA SHUT IT DOWN
IF THE MAN DON’T COME AND FIX THINGS
PRETTY QUICK

REPEAT CHORUS

PRETTY SOON THERE WAS A CROWD
IT WAS GETTING’ PRETTY LOUD
AND THE MEN ALL SAID THERE’D BE NO WORK TODAY
BUT THE OWNER WOULDN’T BUDGE
HE JUST SAT THERE LIKE A JUDGE
AND HE WOULDN’T GIVE A NICKEL MORE IN PAY

CHORUS:
DIRTY BUSINESS, DIRTY BUSINESS
DIRTY BUSINESS DOWN IN COAL CREEK
DIRTY BUSINESS DOWN IN COAL CREEK
THIS MORNING

JUST THEN THEY HEARD THE SOUND
THAT RUMBLED FROM THE GROUND
AND EVERYONE WAS RUSHING FOR THE DOOR
THE DUST CAME POURING OUT
AND IT FINALLY LEFT NO DOUBT
THAT THE MINE WAS NOT AT ISSUE ANYMORE

REPEAT CHORUS

Appears on New Riders of the Purple Sage

[Tuesday Afternoon]

2. Take This Job and Shove It

Johnny Paycheck :D

[mix]

3. The River - Bruce Springsteen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAB4vOkL6cE

I come from down in the valley
where mister when you're young
They bring you up to do like your daddy done
Me and Mary we met in high school
when she was just seventeen
We'd ride out of this valley down to where the fields were green

We'd go down to the river
And into the river we'd dive
Oh down to the river we'd ride

Then I got Mary pregnant
and man that was all she wrote
And for my nineteenth birthday I got a union card and a wedding coat
We went down to the courthouse
and the judge put it all to rest
No wedding day smiles no walk down the aisle
No flowers no wedding dress

That night we went down to the river
And into the river we'd dive
Oh down to the river we did ride

I got a job working construction for the Johnstown Company

But lately there ain't been much work on account of the economy
Now all them things that seemed so important
Well mister they vanished right into the air
Now I just act like I don't remember
Mary acts like she don't care

But I remember us riding in my brother's car
Her body tan and wet down at the reservoir
At night on them banks I'd lie awake
And pull her close just to feel each breath she'd take
Now those memories come back to haunt me
they haunt me like a curse
Is a dream a lie if it don't come true
Or is it something worse
that sends me down to the river
though I know the river is dry
That sends me down to the river tonight
Down to the river
my baby and I
Oh down to the river we ride

[Tuesday Afternoon]

4. I don't wanna Work, I just wanna bang on the drums all day...

Todd Rundgren

[rug]

5. Solidarity Forever

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYiKdJoSsb8&feature=related

[Doc_Technical]

6. Steeleye Span- The Weaver and the Factory Maid

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Do7epBepl8U

[Bennyboy]

7. Cumberland Blues...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJdq0OcRK3o



I can't stay much longer, Melinda, The sun is getting high.
I can't help you with your troubles, If you won't help with mine.
I gotta get down, I gotta get down, I gotta get down to the mine.

You keep me up just one more night, I can't sleep here no more.
Little Ben clock says quarter to eight; You kept me up 'till four.
I gotta get down, I gotta get down, Or I can't work there no more.

A lotta poor man make a five dollar bill, Keep him happy all the time.
Some other fella's makin' nothin' at all And you can hear him cry,
"Can I go, buddy, can I go down Take your shift at the mine?"

Gotta get down to the Cumberland Mine.
Gotta get down to the Cumberland Mine.
That's where I mainly spend my time.
Make good money, five dollars a day. Made anymore, I might move away.

Lotta poor man got the Cumberland Blues He can't win for losin'
Lotta poor man got to walk the line Just to pay his union dues.
I don't know now, I just don't know If I'm goin' back again.

[Bennyboy]

8. Union Maid, Woody Guthrie

Union Maid

There once was a union maid, she never was afraid
Of goons and ginks and company finks and the deputy sheriffs who made the raid.
She went to the union hall when a meeting it was called,
And when the Legion boys come 'round
She always stood her ground.

Oh, you can't scare me, I'm sticking to the union,
I'm sticking to the union, I'm sticking to the union.
Oh, you can't scare me, I'm sticking to the union,
I'm sticking to the union 'til the day I die.

This union maid was wise to the tricks of company spies,
She couldn't be fooled by a company stool, she'd always organize the guys.
She always got her way when she struck for better pay.
She'd show her card to the National Guard
And this is what she'd say

You gals who want to be free, just take a tip from me;
Get you a man who's a union man and join the ladies' auxiliary.
Married life ain't hard when you got a union card,
A union man has a happy life when he's got a union wife.

Words and Music by Woody Guthrie
__________________

[Kali]

9. I'm thinking of a song about deporting migrant workers

god I am fuzzy this morning - what the hell is it?

[rug]

10. Deportee

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2eO65BqxBE

I understand your confusion. :)

[Kali]

14. durrrr, oh yeah

:dunce: :blush:




hilarious short video commentary you posted in a locked thread, btw :rofl:

[abq e streeter]

11. damn near half the Springsteen catalogue, but one of the best : Factory

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7e6qwsyzMg

[mix]

12. Career Opportunities - The Clash

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZOrkPIZ1JU
The offered me the office, offered me the shop
They said I'd better take anything they'd got
Do you wanna make tea at the BBC?
Do you wanna be, do you really wanna be a cop?

Career opportunities are the ones that never knock
The offered me the office, offered me the shop
They said I'd better take anything they'd got
Do you wanna make tea at the BBC?
Do you wanna be, do you really wanna be a cop?

Career opportunities are the ones that never knock
Every job they offer you is to keep you out the dock
Career opportunity, the ones that never knock

I hate the army an' I hate the R.A.F.
I don't wanna go fighting in the tropical heat
I hate the civil service rules
And I won't open letter bombs for you

Bus driver....ambulance man....ticket inspector

They're gonna have to introduce conscription
They're gonna have to take away my prescription
If they wanna get me making toys
If they wanna get me, well, I got no choice

Careers
Careers
Careers

Ain't never gonna knock

[abq e streeter]

13. Lee Dorsey-Workin' in a Coal Mine

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDySfmZlcr0

[abq e streeter]

15. Tennessee Ernie Ford- 16 Tons

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUpTJg2EBpw&feature=related

[csziggy]

39. That was my first thought - but I like this version better

Especially with the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6m1qgnUw74

[abq e streeter]

16. Merle Haggard-Working Man Blues

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_Dqo--Ly3g&feature=related

[hippywife]

17. Workingman's Blues #2 - Bob Dylan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4y2lYW46jzQ


There's an evening haze settling over town
Starlight by the edge of the creek
The buying power of the proletariat's gone down
Money's getting shallow and weak
Well, the place I love best is a sweet memory
It's a new path that we trod
They say low wages are a reality
If we want to compete abroad

My cruel weapons have been put on the shelf
Come sit down on my knee
You are dearer to me than myself
As you yourself can see
While I'm listening to the steel rails hum
Got both eyes tight shut
Just sitting here trying to keep the hunger from
Creeping it's way into my gut

Meet me at the bottom, don't lag behind
Bring me my boots and shoes
You can hang back or fight your best on the frontline
Sing a little bit of these workingman's blues

Well, I'm sailing on back, ready for the long haul
Tossed by the winds and the seas
I'll drag them all down to hell and I'll stand them at the wall
I'll sell them to their enemies
I'm trying to feed my soul with thought
Going to sleep off the rest of the day
Sometimes no one wants what we got
Sometimes you can't give it away

Now the place is ringed with countless foes
Some of them may be deaf and dumb
No man, no woman knows
The hour that sorrow will come
In the dark I hear the night birds call
I can feel a lover's breath
I sleep in the kitchen with my feet in the hall
Sleep is like a temporary death

Well, they burned my barn, and they stole my horse
I can't save a dime
I got to be careful, I don't want to be forced
Into a life of continual crime
I can see for myself that the sun is sinking
How I wish you were here to see
Tell me now, am I wrong in thinking
That you have forgotten me?

Now they worry and they hurry and they fuss and they fret
They waste your nights and days
Them I will forget
But you I'll remember always
Old memories of you to me have clung
You've wounded me with your words
Gonna have to straighten out your tongue
It's all true, everything you've heard

In you, my friend, I find no blame
Wanna look in my eyes, please do
No one can ever claim
That I took up arms against you
All across the peaceful sacred fields
They will lay you low
They'll break your horns and slash you with steel
I say it so it must be so

Now I'm down on my luck and I'm black and blue
Gonna give you another chance
I'm all alone and I'm expecting you
To lead me off in a cheerful dance
I got a brand new suit and a brand new wife
I can live on rice and beans
Some people never worked a day in their life
Don't know what work even means.

[abq e streeter]

18. El Clash Combo---The Magnificent Seven

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_A5u_mWG11k&feature=related

[abq e streeter]

19. Roy Orbison-Workin For The Man

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlPWS3jpWkU

[Bennyboy]

20. Another one by The Boss..Youngstown...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Smddcs5n0H0


Here in northeast Ohio
Back in eighteen-o-three
James and Dan Heaton
Found the ore that was linin' Yellow Creek
They built a blast furnace
Here along the shore
And they made the cannonballs
That helped the Union win the war

Here in Youngstown
Here in Youngstown
My sweet Jenny I'm sinkin' down
Here darlin' in Youngstown

Well my daddy worked the furnaces
Kept 'em hotter than hell
I come home from 'Nam worked my way to scarfer
A job that'd suit the devil as well
Taconite coke and limestone
Fed my children and make my pay
Them smokestacks reachin' like the arms of God
Into a beautiful sky of soot and clay

Here in Youngstown
Here in Youngstown
Sweet Jenny I'm sinkin' down
Here darlin' in Youngstown

Well my daddy come on the Ohio works
When he come home from World War Two
Now the yard's just scrap and rubble
He said "Them big boys did what Hitler couldn't do."
These mills they built the tanks and bombs
That won this country's wars
We sent our sons to Korea and Vietnam
Now we're wondering what they were dyin' for

Here in Youngstown
Here in Youngstown
My sweet Jenny I'm sinkin' down
Here darlin' in Youngstown

From the Monongahela valley
To the Mesabi iron range
To the coal mines of Appalachia
The story's always the same
Seven hundred tons of metal a day
Now sir you tell me the world's changed
Once I made you rich enough
Rich enough to forget my name

And Youngstown
And Youngstown
My sweet Jenny I'm sinkin' down
Here darlin' in Youngstown

When I die I don't want no part of heaven
I would not do heaven's work well
I pray the devil comes and takes me
To stand in the fiery furnaces of hell

[abq e streeter]

21. Sam Cooke-Chain Gang

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

[gmoney]

22. Dumbass moment heard on radio...

Was listening to the misinformation on the Kim Kommando radio show (tips for computers and tech stuff) and in "honor of Labor Day" they played a brief bit of Sam Cooke's song "Chain Gang."

Guess she figures Labor Day honors prison labor, or that maybe road crews are shackled together for safety purposes, or her producers just don't have a clue.

I kind of suspect the latter, as her theme song for the show is that condescending and fairly misogynist Tom Jones song "She's a Lady" -- I guess they think it's sassy or something that she's an attractive WOMAN who's also a techweenie! OMG!

Kind of like No Doubt's "I'm Just a Girl" but without the irony.

[abq e streeter]

24. Just posted that song--but the video has powerful graphics & pix about the inhumanity and brutality

of it...with a chilling reminder that Alabama and Arizona (gee, who would've guessed ?) have re-instituted them. I posted because the song IS about labor and working, and in the case of the chain gang,forced to at gunpoint, often for no other reason than the crime of being poor and black in the south.

[gmoney]

25. It's a good song, and I'm sure the video is good...

I just don't think it's what I'd choose for my salute to Labor Day...

...kind of like the Tell-Tale Heart isn't really something you'd send your sweetie on Valentine's Day.

Maybe they meant to use "Working in a Coal Mine" instead.

[abq e streeter]

27. Completely agree with you as far as the use of it you described

[old mark]

23. One of my favorites from the disco days - The Strawbs - "Part of the Union"...

Ya don't get me, I'm part of the Union...

Till the day I die


Link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdOCWUgwiWs

this song was #2 on the UK charts and was on radio here in the US for years.

mark

[Kali]

26. Casey Jones

John Henry
Maggies Farm

lots of Utah Phillips and the one with Ani DiFranco is pretty good

[struggle4progress]

28. Overalls and Snuff

One day as I went walking along the railroad track,
I met a man from Wheatland with his blankets on his back
He was an old-time hop picker, I'd seen his face before,
And I knew he was a Wobblie by the button that he wore ... http://www.musicanet.org/robokopp/usa/overalls.htm

The Wheatland Hop Riot was one of the most important and well-known events in California labor history. A bloody clash occurred at the Durst Ranch on August 3, 1913 ... http://www.noehill.com/yuba/cal1003.asp

[Bennyboy]

29. There is power in a Union! Utah Phillips

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O93YpTYCWRk&feature=related

Written by Joe Hill...


Would you have freedom from wage slavery,
Then join in the grand Industrial band;
Would you from mis'ry and hunger be free,
Then come! Do your share, like a man.

Chorus:
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.

Would you have mansions of gold in the sky,
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?

If you've had "nuff" of "the blood of the lamb,"
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.

If you like sluggers to beat off your head,
Then don't organize, all unions despise,
If you want nothing before you are dead,
Shake hands with your boss and look wise.

Come, all ye workers, from every land,
Come join in the grand Industrial band.
Then we our share of this earth shall demand.
Come on! Do your share, like a man.

[mix]

30. Leadbelly - Pick a Bale of Cotton

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oE9QYkkxyVQ

[Bennyboy]

31. Which Side Are You On...Pete Seeger....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iAIM02kv0g&feature=related

(Written by Florence Reese)

Come all of you good workers,
Good news to you I’ll tell,
Of how that good old union
Has come in here to dwell.

cho: Which side are you on?
Which side are you on?
Which side are you on?
Which side are you on?

My daddy was a miner,
And I’m a miner’s son,
And I’ll stick with the union,
Till every battle’s won.

They say in Harlan County,
There are no neutrals there.
You’ll either be a union man,
Or a thug for J.H. Blair.

Oh, workers can you stand it?
Oh, tell me how you can.
Will you be a lousy scab,
Or will you be a man ?

Don’t scab for the bosses,
Don’t listen to their lies.
Us poor folks haven’t got a chance,
Unless we organize.

[Curmudgeoness]

32. Joe Hill-sung by Joan Baez

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR6SMAJQW8Y

[Bennyboy]

33. 9 to 5!

Tumble outta bed
And stumble to the kitchen
Pour myself a cup of ambition
Yawnin, stretchin, try to come to life
Jump in the shower
And the blood starts pumpin
Out on the streets
The traffic starts jumpin
And folks like me on the job from 9 to 5
Chorus:

Workin 9 to 5
What a way to make a livin
Barely gettin by
Its all takin
And no givin
They just use your mind
And they never give you credit
Its enough to drive you
Crazy if you let it

9 to 5, for service and devotion
You would think that i
Would deserve a fair promotion
Want to move ahead
But the boss wont seem to let me in
I swear sometimes that man is out to get me
Mmmmm...

They let your dream
Just a watch em shatter
Youre just a step
On the boss mans a ladder
But you got dream hell never take away

On the same boat
With a lot of your friends
Waitin for the day
Your shipll come in
And the tides gonna turn
An it's all gonna roll you away

2nd chorus:

Workin 9 to 5
What a way to make a livin
Barely gettin by
Its all takin
And no givin
They just use your mind
And you never get the credit
Its enough to drive you
Crazy if you let it

9 to 5, yeah, they got you where they want you
There's a better life
And you think that I would daunt you
Its a rich mans game
No matter what they call it
And you spend your life
Puttin money in his wallet

3rd chorus:

Workin 9 to 5
What a way to make a livin
Barely gettin by
Its all takin
And no givin
They just use you mind
And they never give you credit
Its enough to drive you
Crazy if you let it

Fade:

9 to 5, yeah, they got you where they want you
There's a better life
And you dream that I would daunt you
Its a rich mans game
No matter what they call it
And you spend your life
Puttin money in his wallet
__________________

[Bennyboy]

34. SOLIDARITY FOREVER Pete Seeger and the Weavers

SOLIDARITY FOREVER

Pete Seeger and the Weavers -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYiKdJoSsb8

When the union's inspiration through the workers' blood 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
For the Union makes us strong
Chorus
Solidarity forever, solidarity forever
Solidarity forever
For the Union makes us strong
Is there aught we hold in common with the greedy parasite
Who would lash us into serfdom and would crush us with his might?
Is there anything left to us but to organize and fight?
For the union makes us strong
It is we who ploughed the prairies, built the cities where 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
All the world that's owned by idle drones is ours and ours alone
We have laid the wide foundations, built it skyward stone by stone
It is ours, not to slave in, but to master and to own
While the union makes us strong
They have taken untold millions that they never toiled to 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
In our hands is placed a power greater than their hoarded gold
Greater than the might of armies magnified a thousandfold
We can bring to birth a new world from the ashes of the old
For the Union makes us strong
__________________

[Kat45]

35. I just heard that song on the radio about 5 minutes ago!

I'm listening to Free Form WBCN online, doing a special live broadcast for 2 hours, playing requests for Labor Day about working (and also a few songs about summer since we're at the end of it). Great songs.

[Tom_Foolery]

36. Alabama's "40 Hour Week"...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04zzeN0MIY4


There are people in this country who work hard every day
Not for fame or fortune do they strive
But the fruits of their labor are worth more than their pay
And it's time a few of them were recognized

Hello Detroit auto worker, let me thank you for your time
You work a forty hour week for a livin', just to send it on down the line
Hello Pittsburgh steel mill worker, let me thank you for your time
You work a forty hour week for a livin', just to send it on down the line

This is for the one who swings the hammer, driving home the nail
For the one behind the counter, ringing up the sales
For the one who fights the fires, the one who brings the mail
For everyone who works behind the scenes

You can see them every morning in the factories and the fields
In the city streets and the quiet country towns
Working together like spokes inside a wheel
They keep this country turning around

Hello Kansas wheat field farmer, let me thank you for your time
You work a forty hour week for a livin', just to send it on down the line
Hello West Virginia coal miner, let me thank you for your time
You work a forty hour week for a livin', just to send it on down the line

This is for the one who drives the big rig, up and down the road
For the one out in the warehouse, bringing in the load
For the waitress, the mechanic, the policeman on patrol
For everyone who works behind the scenes

With a spirit you can't replace with no machine
Hello America let me thank you for your time

[Dr Morbius]

37. James McMurtry

We Can't Make It Here Anymore.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTW0y6kazWM

Applies in a big-picture sense.

[Petrushka]

38. One Day More --- performed by Elaine Purkey, WV coalfield activist, organizer, musician, singer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WczCJySAD2E

[csziggy]

40. "John Henry" and "Ludlow Massacre"

Woodie Guthrie:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZvMeuwy3rk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDd64suDz1A

And "The 1913 Massacre"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oz7oguguIZE

I recently was given a letter written by my great grandmother to my grandfather in 1913 in which she mentions "the strike". Since she was living in Iron River, Michigan I suspect that she was talking about this strike. I'm going to have to do more research into it. Her husband, my great grandfather, made his living building railroad bridges and supports for mine adits and shafts.