Friday, September 25, 2009

Which Side Are You On?


Words by Florence Reece; melody, traditional (Lay the Lily Low)
Rise Up Singing chapter: Work, p.260
Am - Em Am / Em Am E Am / Am - E Am (repeat this last line if you like the chorus twice like I do)

Come all of you good workers, good news to you I'll tell
Of how the good old union has come in here to dwell
Which side are you on (boys)? Which side are you on?

My daddy was a miner, he's now in the air and sun
And I'll stick to the union till every battle's won
or
My daddy was a miner, and I'm a miner's son
And I'll stick to the union till every battle's won

They say in Harlan County, there are no neutrals there
You're either with the union, or a thug for J.H. Blair

Oh, workers, can you stand it? Oh, tell me how you can
Will you be a crummy scab or lend us all a hand?

Don't scab for the bosses, don't listen to their lies
Us poor folks haven't got a chance unless we organise

5 comments:

  1. AnonymousJune 2, 2010 at 1:45 AM

    This is wonderful! Thank you so much. I spent ages last night trying to remember how I used to play this twenty years ago.

    I like it with an E7 in place of your first E, as well, which some people seem to use.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Matthew VJune 29, 2010 at 9:28 PM

    Thanks a lot for commenting. I don't know if you'll get this, since Blogger doesn't do comment replies. I hope you do, anyway. I like that E7 too. Good suggestion.

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownMarch 28, 2011 at 8:24 AM

    Your videos rock and your project rocks! "I'm not evil, I'm just in shadow!" :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Matthew VMarch 28, 2011 at 9:27 AM

    Thanks! I hope you see this. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousMay 16, 2012 at 4:53 AM

    Thanks, Matthew. I gave away my RUS book when I had to move and I've regretted it ever since! Savin' the day.

    ReplyDelete

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