Labour History in Song

[Conghaileach]

Your Daughters and Your Sons
by Tommy Sands

They wouldn't hear your music
And they pulled your paintings down
They wouldn't read your writing
And they banned you from the town
But they couldn't stop you dreaming
And a victory you have won
For you sowed the seeds of freedom
In your daughters and your sons

In your daughters and your sons
Your daughters and your sons
You sowed the seeds of freedom
In your daughters and your sons

Your weary smile it proudly hides
The chainmarks on your hands
As you bravely strive to realise
The rights of everyman
And though your body's bent and low
A victory you have won
For you sowed the seeds of justice
In your daughters and your sons

In your daughters and your sons
Your daughters and your sons
You sowed the seeds of justice
In your daughters and your sons


I don't know your religion
But one day I heard you pray
For a world where everyone can work
And children they can play
And though you never got your share
Of the victories you have won
You sowed the seeds of equality
In your daughters and your sons

In your daughters and your sons
Your daughters and your sons
You sowed the seeds of equality
In your daughters and your sons


They taunted you in Belfast
And they tortured you in Spain
And in that Warsaw ghetto
Where they tied you up in chains
In Vietnam and in Chile
Where they came with tanks and guns
It's there you sowed the seeds of peace
In your daughters and your sons

In your daughters and your sons
Your daughters and your sons
You sowed the seeds of peace
In your daughters and your sons

And now your music's playing
And the writing's on the wall
And all the dreams you painted
Can be seen by one and all
Now you've got them thinking
And the future's just begun
For you sowed the seeds of freedom
In your daughters and your sons

In your daughters and your sons
Your daughters and your sons
You sowed the seeds of freedom
In your daughters and your sons

[Conghaileach]

Glory and Fame (edited)
by David Rovics

I pulled the stones for the emperor, stacked 'em up and made that wall
I thought, a mountain lasts forever but the rain must always fall
I worked the mines in Chile for conquistador
Died there in the pitshaft, joined my family with the ore

I tapped the trees for Leopold, and then he took my hands
The sap sailed to Brussels and my blood stained the lands
I cut down the sugar cane on the islands off the coast
Oh but the sweet taste of freedom is the stuff that I love most

(chorus)
Tell me who am I
Do you know my name
Will I lie forgotton
Or arise in glory and fame

I fought with Poncho Villa, stood with him side by side
When the Bluecoats took the land, I thought how long is freedom's ride
I was there at Haymarket with the martyrs eight
For striking in Chicago, death would have to be my fate

I cut the timber in Centralia, nearly broke my back
Tried to organize a union and they tied me to the tracks
I fought in Barcelona, kept the fascists there at bay
Then when Hitler's tanks came rolling, I knew we couldn't stay

(Chorus)

I mined the ore in Arizona, last of the Navajo
Got that radium a-glowin' then it was time for me to go
I marched in South Africa, found myself in Sharpeville
Once the police came and went I was lying oh so still

I campaigned for Allende for a nation without fear
Didn't look behind me for the day I'd disappear
I spoke at Tiananmen to revive the revolution
Didn't think for Deng Xiaoping, rolling tanks were his solution

(Chorus)

I grew the mangos in Somalia for the people in the west
And when the price of fruit went down, I went down starving with the rest
I worked the plant in Bangkok, breathed the dusty air
When the cotton started burning, I knew my life would not be spared

The cops beat me in Los Angeles but I would not be scared
When they sent the Army in, I thought next time we'll be prepared
Yes I've been yearning for a new day, all the world wide
Some day my time will come and you will have to step aside

(Chorus)


This song can be downloaded here (http://www.soundclick.com/util/DownloadSong.cfm?ID=763859).

[Conghaileach]

This one's more US-based than the others.


I Ain't Marching Anymore
by Phil Ochs

Oh I marched to the battle of New Orleans
At the end of the early British war
The young land started growing
The young blood started flowing
But I ain't marchin' anymore

For I've killed my share of Indians
In a thousand different fights
I was there at the Little Big Horn
I heard many men lying I saw many more dying
But I ain't marchin' anymore

(chorus)
It's always the old to lead us to the war
It's always the young to fall
Now look at all we've won with the saber and the gun
Tell me is it worth it all

For I stole California from the Mexican land
Fought in the bloody Civil War
Yes I even killed my brothers
And so many others But I ain't marchin' anymore

For I marched to the battles of the German trench
In a war that was bound to end all wars
Oh I must have killed a million men
And now they want me back again
But I ain't marchin' anymore

(chorus)

For I flew the final mission in the Japanese sky
Set off the mighty mushroom roar
When I saw the cities burning I knew that I was learning
That I ain't marchin' anymore

Now the labor leader's screamin'
when they close the missile plants,
United Fruit screams at the Cuban shore,
Call it "Peace" or call it "Treason,"
Call it "Love" or call it "Reason,"
But I ain't marchin' any more,
No I ain't marchin' any more

[Conghaileach]

The Red Flag
by Jim Connell

The people's flag is deepest red,
It shrouded oft our martyred dead,
And ere their limbs grew stiff and cold,
Their hearts blood dyed its every fold.

(chorus)
Then raise the scarlet standard high.
Within its shade we'll live and die,
Though cowards flinch and traitors sneer,
We'll keep the red flag flying here.

Look round, the Frenchman loves its blaze,
The sturdy German chants its praise,
In Moscow's vaults its hymns are sung
Chicago swells the surging throng.

(chorus)

It waved above our infant might,
When all ahead seemed dark as night;
It witnessed many a deed and vow,
We must not change its colour now.

(chorus)

It well recalls the triumphs past,
It gives the hope of peace at last;
The banner bright, the symbol plain,
Of human right and human gain.

(chorus)

It suits today the weak and base,
Whose minds are fixed on pelf and place
To cringe before the rich man's frown,
And haul the sacred emblem down.

(chorus)

With heads uncovered swear we all
To bear it onward till we fall;
Come dungeons dark or gallows grim,
This song shall be our parting hymn.

[Conghaileach]

Revolution
words: Joseph Bovshover / music: Dick Gaughan

I come like a comet new born
Like the sun that arises at morning
I come like the furious tempest
That follows a thundercloud's warning
I come like the fiery lava
From cloud-covered mountains volcanic
I come like a storm from the north
That the oceans awake to in panic

I come because tyranny planted
My seed in the hot desert sand
I come because masters have kindled
My fury with every command
I come because man cannot murder
The life-giving seed in his veins
I come because liberty cannot
Forever be fettered by chains

I come because tyrants imagine
That mankind is only their throne
I come because peace has been nourished
By bullets and cannon alone
I come because one world is two
And we face one another with rage
I come because guards have been posted
To keep out the hope of the age

From earliest times the oppressed
Have awaked me and called me to lead them
I guided them out of enslavement
And brought them to high roads of freedom
I marched at the head of their legions
And hailed a new world at its birth
And now I shall march with the peoples
Until they unfetter the earth

And you, all you sanctified moneybags
Bandits anointed and crowned
Your counterfeit towers of justice
And ethics will crash to the ground
I'll send my good sword through your hearts
That have drained the world's blood in their lust
Smash all your crowns and your sceptres
And trample them into the dust

I'll rip off your rich purple garments
And tear them to rags and to shreds
Never again will their glitter
Be able to turn people's heads
At last your cold world will be robbed of
It's proud hypocritical glow
For we shall dissolve it as surely
As sunlight dissolves the deep snow

I'll tear down your cobweb morality
Shatter the old chain of lies
Catch all your blackhooded preachers
And choke them as though they were flies
I'll put a quick end to your heavens
Your gods that are deaf to all prayer
Scatter your futile old spirits
And clean up the earth and the air

And though you may choke me and shoot me
And hang me your toil is in vain
No dungeon, no gallows can scare me
Nor will I be frightened by pain
Each time I'll arise from the earth
And break through all your weapons of doom
Until you are finished forever
Until you are dust in the tomb

[Conghaileach]

Biggest thing man has ever done
by Woody Guthrie

I'm just a lonesome traveler, the great historical bum
Highly educated, out of history I've come
I built the Rock of Ages, it was in the year of One
And that's about the biggest thing that Man has ever done

I worked in the Garden of Eden, that was the year of Two
Joined the Apple Pickers Union, and I always paid my dues
I'm the man that signed the contract to raise the Rising Sun
And that's about the biggest thing that Man has ever done

I was straw boss on the pyramids, the Tower of Babel, too
I opened up the ocean, let the migrant children through
I fought a million battles and I never lost a one
And that's about the biggest thing that Man has ever done

I beat the daring Roman, I beat the daring Turk
Defeated Nero's army, boys, with thirty minutes' work
I fought a million leaders and I licked them every one
And that's about the biggest thing that Man has ever done

I was in the Revolution that set this country free
Me and a couple o' Indians, we dumped the Boston tea
I fought the battle of Valley Forge and the battle of Bully Run
And that's about the biggest thing that Man has ever done

There was a man across the ocean, I guess you know him well
His name was Adolph Hitler, God damn his soul to hell
We kicked him in the panzers and put him on the run
And that's about the biggest thing that Man has ever done

As sung by Tom Paxton