In honor of Joe Hill and all the Labor Movement martyrs today:

[knitter4democracy]

Joe Hill's song "The Preacher and the Slave":

http://www.fortunecity.com/tinpan/parton/2/pie.html/

Joe Hill's Wiki page, in case you don't know of him:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Hill

May we keep organizing and keep fighting for basic human rights for all.

[seemslikeadream]

1. The union was the only friend he had

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

Joe hill come over from sweden shores

Looking for some work to do
And the statue of liberty waved him by
As joe come a sailing through, joe hill
As joe come a sailing through.

Oh his clothes were coarse and his hopes were high
As he headed for the promised land
And it took a few weeks on the out-of-work streets
Before he began to understand
Before he began to understand

And joe got hired by a bowery bar
Sweeping up the saloon
As his rag would sail over the baroom rail
Sounded like he whistled on a tune
You could almost hear him whistling on a tune

And joe rolled on from job to job
From the docks to the railroad line
And no matter how hungry the hand that wrote
In his letters he was always doing fine
In his letters he was always doing fine

Oh, the years went by like the sun goin’ down
Slowly turn the page
And when joe looked back at the sweat upon his tracks
He had nothing to show but his age
He had nothing to show but his age

So he headed out for the california shore
There things were just as bad
So he joined the industrial workers of the world
’cause, the union was the only friend he had
’cause, the union was the only friend he had

Now the strikes were bloody and the strikes were black
As hard as they were long
In the dark of night joe would stay awake and write
In the morning he would raise them with a song
In the morning he would raise them with a song

And he wrote his words to the tunes of the day
To be passed along the union vine
And the strikes were led and the songs were spread
And joe hill was always on the line
Yes joe hill was always on the line

Now in salt lake city a murder was made
There was hardly a clue to find
Oh, the proof was poor, but the sheriff was sure
Joe was the killer of the crime
That joe was the killer of the crime

Joe raised his hands but they shot him down
He had nothing but guilt to give
It’s a doctor I need and they left him to bleed
He made it ’cause he had the will to live
Yes, he made it ’cause he had the will to live

Then the trial was held in a building of wood
And there the killer would be named
And the days weighed more than the cold copper ore
Cause he feared that he was being framed
Cause he found out that he was being framed

Oh, strange are the ways of western law
Strange are the ways of fate
For the government crawled to the mine owner’s call
That the judge was appointed by the state
Yes, the judge was appointed by the state

Oh, utah justice can be had
But not for a union man
And joe was warned by summer early morn
That there’d be one less singer in the land
There’d be one less singer in the land

Now william spry was governor spry
And a life was his to hold
On the last appeal, fell a governor’s tear
May the lord have mercy on your soul
May the lord have mercy on your soul

Even president wilson held up the day
But even he would fail
For nobody heard the soul searching words
Of the soul in the salt lake city jail
Of the soul in the salt lake city jail

For 36 years he lived out his days
And he more than played his part
For his songs that he made, he was carefully paid
With a rifle bullet buried in his heart
With a rifle bullet buried in his heart

Yes, they lined joe hill up against the wall
Blindfold over his eyes
It’s the life of a rebel that he chose to live
It’s the death of a rebel that he died
It’s the death of a rebel that he died

Now some say joe was guilty as charged
And some say he wasn’t even there
And I guess nobody will ever know
’cause the court records all disappeared
’cause the court records all disappeared

Say wherever you go in this fair land
In every union hall
In the dusty dark these words are marked
In between all the cracks upon the wall
In between all the cracks upon the wall

It’s the very last line that joe will wrote
When he knew that his days were through
"boys, this is my last and final will
Good luck to all of you
Good luck to all of you"


JOE HILL

I dreamed I saw last night alive as you and me.
Said I, "But Joe, you're ten years dead",
"I never died", said he.
"I never died", said he.

"In Salt Lake, Joe", I said to him standing by my bed,
"they framed you on a murder charge."
Says Joe: "But I ain't dead!" (2x)

"The Cooper Bosses shot you, Joe, they killed you, Joe", says I.
"Takes more than guns to kill a man", says Joe, "I didn't die!"

And standing there as big as life and smiling with his eyes,
Joe says: "What they could never kill went on to organize."

"Joe Hill ain't dead", he says to me, "Joe Hill ain't never
died,
when workers strike and organize Joe Hill is by their side."

From San Diego up to Maine in every mine and mill,
where workers stand up for their rights,
it's there you'll find Joe Hill.

I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night alive as you and me.
Said I, "But Joe, you're ten years dead","I never died", said
he.

Joan Baez

[knitter4democracy]

3. I hadn't heard that first one. Thanks!

I found out about Joe Hill for the first time when I was in a play with a peace group and one of the characters entered singing "Joe Hill." Everyone was a little upset I didn't know who he was and started telling me stories. He's not the only one killed for Big Money, either.

[seemslikeadream]

7. another version

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmyRip9OTZk&eurl=

[ConsAreLiars]

14. Yes, the Phil Ochs original. Thank you.

Phil Ochs in Sweden telling the tale in Hill's home country.

I was also going to post it if no one else had.

[Lifelong Protester]

12. My sister and I used to sing that second one a lot

in talent shows and such in the 1970s. Still like it.

And here's to Joe Hill and all the men and women who sacrificed to make unions possible.

[hfojvt]

2. the Salvation Army usually feeds people these days

Here's a little bit about Washington Gladden

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Gladden

Here's a little bit about Settlement Houses

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Settlement_movement

It does not say anything about Jane Addams religion, but at least some members of that movement were 'religiously inclined'

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vida_Dutton_Scudder

[knitter4democracy]

5. Yes, they do--now.

I had a friend in college whose family was in the Salvation Army's church. They do some good work, it's true. It used to be, though, that a preacher would come through and make it sound like there was going to be food and then not feed them--preachers of all kinds and backgrounds. Most Christian groups these days focus on feeding people and taking care of them first, but it wasn't always that way.

[LeftishBrit]

4. k & r

If you're not being treated as a slave today, thank an early trade union activist.

[knitter4democracy]

6. More for those of us never taught this stuff in high school

or maybe even college classes:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_Workers_of_the_World

I taught for two years in a non-union high school. Never again. Unions make sure we workers get respect and that management follows the contracts.

[seemslikeadream]

8. never

[Lifelong Protester]

13. What this country needs is MORE mass meetings of this type

that followed Haymarket and other tragedies.

[knitter4democracy]

9. Kick for the evening.

Just in case some haven't heard the story or the song.

[malaise]

10. Love that song

Bravo Joe Hill.

[Richard Steele]

11. K&R