Now, if you want higher wages let me tell you what to doYou got to talk to the workers in the shop with youYou got to build you a union, got to make it strongBut if you all stick together, boys, it won't be longYou get shorter hours, better working conditionsVacations with pay. Take your kids to the seashoreIt ain't quite this simple, so I better explainJust why you got to ride on the union train'Cause if you wait for the boss to raise your payWe'll all be a-waitin' 'til Judgment DayWe'll all be buried, gone to heavenSt. Peter'll be the straw boss thenNow you know you're underpaid but the boss says you ain'tHe speeds up the work 'til you're 'bout to faintYou may be down and out, but you ain't beatenYou can pass out a leaflet and call a meetin'Talk it over, speak your mindDecide to do somethin' about itCourse, the boss may persuade some poor damn foolTo go to your meetin' and act like a stoolBut you can always tell a stool, though, that's a factHe's got a yaller streak a-runnin' down his backHe doesn't have to stool, he'll always get alongOn what he takes out of blind men's cupsYou got a union now, and you're sittin' prettyPut some of the boys on the steering committeeThe boss won't listen when one guy squawksBut he's got to listen when the union talksHe'd better, be mighty lonelyEverybody decide to walk out on himSuppose they're working you so hard it's just outrageousAnd they're paying you all starvation wagesYou go to the boss and the boss would yellBefore I raise your pay I'd see you all in hell.Well, he's puffing a big cigar, feeling mighty slick'Cause he thinks he's got your union lickedWell, he looks out the window and what does he seeBut a thousand pickets, and they all agreeHe's a bastard, unfair, slavedriverBet he beats his wifeNow, boys, you've come to the hardest timeThe boss will try to bust your picket lineHe'll call out the police, the National GuardThey'll tell you it's a crime to have a union cardThey'll raid your meetin', they'll hit you on the headThey'll call every one of you a goddam redUnpatriotic, Japanese spies, sabotaging national defenseBut out at Ford, here's what they foundAnd out at Vultee, here's what they foundAnd out at Allis-Chalmers, here's what they foundAnd down at Bethlehem, here's what they foundThat if you don't let red-baiting break you upAnd if you don't let stoolpigeons break you upAnd if you don't let vigilantes break you upAnd if you don't let race hatred break you upYou'll win. What I mean, take it easy, but take it
Lyrics by Pete Seeger
Abiyoyo [#] Adam The Inventor All My Children Of The Sun All My Trials Alleluya America, The Beautiful Arrange And Re-Arrange Ballad Of The Fort Hood Three Banks Of Marble Banks of the Ohio Barbara Allen [Live] Battle Of New Orleans Be Kind to Your Parents Belle Starr Billy Barlow Blow The Man Down Both Sides Now Bring Them Home Bring Them Home (If You Love Your Uncle Sam) Business Camptown Races Camptown Races [Gwine to Run All Night] Cement Octopus De Colores Die Gedanken Sind Frei Down By The River Down by the Riverside [African American Spiritual] Draft Dodger Rag English Is Cuh-ray-zee False From True Foggy Dew From Way Up Here Go Tell Aunt Rhodie God Bless The Grass Goodnight, Irene [Irene, Goodnight] Guantanamera (Live) Henry My Son Hobo's Lullaby Hobo's Lullaby House Of The Rising Sun How Can I Keep From Singing I Ride An Old Paint I've Been Working On The Railroad I’ve Been Working On The Railroad If I Had A Hammer (Album Version) If This World Survives It Really Isn't Garbage Jackaro Jacob's Ladder Jarama Valley John Brown's Body John Henry John Riley John Riley [Pretty Fair Maid] [the Broken Token] [... King Henry Last Train To Nuremberg Letter To Eve Little Boxes Little Fat Baby Living In The Country Mastinchele Wachipi Olewan Michael Row The Boat Ashore Michael Row The Boat Ashore (Live) Michael, Row the Boat Ashore Molly Malone My Dentist Has Tattooed Legs My Father's Mansion's Many Rooms My Name Is Liza Kalvelage My Rainbow Race No Irish Need Apply Now We Sit Us Down Ode To A Composer Bach At Treblinka Oh Susanna [#] Oh What A Beautiful City Oh, I Had A Golden Thread Oh, What a Beautiful City! Old Devil Time Old Joe Clark [#] One Grain Of Sand Or Else Our Generation Peg And Awl Preicious Friend Queen Anne Front Quite Early Morning Quite Early Morning [*] River River Song Roll On, Columbia Shenandoah Skip to My Lou Snow Snow Solartopia Song Of The World's Last Whale Summertime Take It From DrKing Talking Ben Tre Teacher Uncle Ho The Ballad of Ira Hayes The Bells of Rhymney The Bells of Rhymney [#] The Dying Miner The Fox The House of the Rising Sun The River That Flows Both Ways The Torn Flag The Water Is Wide The Wreck of the Old 97 The Wreck of the Old 97 There'll Come A Day Throw Away That Shad Net Throw Away That Shad Net (How Are We Gonna Save To... Tomorrow's Children Turn, Turn, Turn Tzena Tzena Tzena Tzena, Tzena, Tzena Uncle Ho Union Maid Waist Deep In The Big Muddy Walking Down Death Row Walking Down Death Row [*] Water Is Wide (O Waly Waly) We Shall Not Be Moved We Shall Overcome We Will Love Or We Will Perish When Johnny Comes Marching Home Where Have All The Flowers Gone Where Have All The Flowers Gone? Which Side Are You On? Wimoweh (Mbube) Wimoweh (Mbube) [Live] Wonderful Friends Words Words Words