THIS IS AMERICA - Labor Movement Songs

THIS IS AMERICA - September 2, 2002: Labor¹ Movement Songs

Postage stamp honoring
child labor reform
VOICE ONE:

Labor Day is an American holiday that honors working people. It is celebrated² each year on the first Monday of
September. I'm Sarah Long.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Bob Doughty³. Today we play some songs from the American labor movement on the VOA Special
English program, THIS IS AMERICA.

(THEME)

VOICE ONE:

The labor movement in the United States has been very successful. It has won many
rights for American workers. The struggle for these rights was long and difficult.
Yet few people remember the battles. Americans know about them mostly through
music. For music was an important part of the campaign for workers' rights.

The songs are stories of struggle and pride. Struggle to win good pay and working
conditions. Pride in work that is well done. Some of the songs tell of working long
hours for little pay. Some tell of the bitter, sometimes violent, struggle between
workers and business owners.

VOICE TWO:

Union activists⁴ knew that songs could be weapons. The music was a way to help people feel strong and united.
So most labor songs express the workers' hope that a union could make life better.

The people who wrote labor songs were workers and activists, not professional musicians. Usually they did not
write new music. They wrote new words to old songs.

One example is the song "We Shall Not Be Moved." It uses the music and many of the same words of an old
religious song. Here is folksinger Pete Seeger.

((MUSIC))

VOICE ONE:

Many of the best labor songs came from workers in the coal mines of the southern United States. Coal mining
was perhaps the most dangerous job in America. There were few health or safety rules to protect workers. The
labor movement demanded action. But mine owners bitterly opposed miners' unions. In some areas, there was
open war between labor activists and coal companies.

VOICE TWO:

Once in Harlan County, Kentucky, company police searched for union leaders. They went to the home of one
man. They did not find him there. So, they waited outside for several days. The coal miner's wife, Florence
Reece, remained inside with her children. She wrote this song, "Which Side Are You On?" Again, here is Pete
Seeger.

((MUSIC))


VOICE ONE:

Joe Hill was probably the most famous labor song writer in America. He was born in Sweden and came to the
United States in the early nineteen-hundreds. He worked as an unskilled laborer⁵.

Joe Hill joined a labor union called the I-W-W, the Industrial Workers of the World. More than any other union,
the I-W-W used music in its campaigns. It told its members to "sing and fight."

One of Joe Hill's best-known songs is "Casey Jones." It uses the music from a song about a train engineer. In the
old song, Jones is a hero. He bravely keeps his train running in very difficult conditions.

In Joe Hill's version, Casey Jones is no hero. His train is unsafe. Yet he continues to operate it after other workers
have called a strike against the railroad company. Pete Seeger and the Song Swappers sing "Casey Jones – The
Union Scab.
”

((MUSIC))

VOICE TWO:

When labor organizer and songwriter Joe Hill was thirty-three years old, he was accused of murder. Some
historians believe that police falsely accused him of murder to stop his labor activities. Others say there was
strong evidence that he was guilty.

Joe Hill was executed in nineteen-fifteen in the state of Utah. Reports say these were his last words: "Do not
waste time feeling sad about my death. Organize the workers." The song "Joe Hill" was written by Earl Robinson
and Alfred Hayes. It is sung here by Joan Baez.

((MUSIC))

VOICE ONE:

Labor historian and musician Joe Glazer⁶ says the unofficial song of America's labor movement is the song called
"Solidarity⁷ Forever." It was written in nineteen-fifteen by Ralph Chaplin. He was a poet and organizer for the
Industrial Workers of the World union.

Ralph Chaplin wanted to write a song of revolution. He said it should show that workers would always unite to
claim their rights.

Here is “Solidarity Forever,” sung by the Whiteville Choir⁸. These singers are members of a clothing workers
union in Whiteville, North Carolina.

((MUSIC))

VOICE TWO:

To most Americans today, labor songs are part of the past. One reason is that labor unions have gotten smaller.
Another reason is that American culture has changed. People do not sing in group meetings as much as they once
did.

Still, many workers enjoy hearing and singing labor songs. One popular historical song is called “Bread and
Roses.” Clothing workers used these words to describe their movement in nineteen-oh-eight. That year, one-
hundred-twenty-eight women died in a factory fire in New York City. Fifteen-thousand women marched to
protest unsafe conditions in the factory.

VOICE ONE:

Four years later, the words “Bread and Roses” appeared on a flag carried by textile workers during a strike in
Lawrence, Massachusetts. That gave a member of the International Workers of the World the idea for a song.
James Oppenheim wrote the song “Bread and Roses.” Pat Humphries sings it.


((MUSIC)
)
VOICE TWO:
This program was written by Jerilyn Watson. It was produced by Caty Weaver⁹. Our studio engineer was Keith

Holmes. I'm Bob Doughty.
VOICE ONE:
And I'm Sarah Long. Join us again next week for another report about life in the United States on the VOA

Special English program THIS IS AMERICA.
(THEME)

 

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1 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

2 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

3 doughty   

adj.勇猛的，坚强的

参考例句：

• Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质：脾气倔强，性格刚强。
• The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。

4 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 laborer   

n.劳动者，劳工

参考例句：

• Her husband had been a farm laborer.她丈夫以前是个农场雇工。
• He worked as a casual laborer and did not earn much.他当临时工，没有赚多少钱。

6 glazer   

n.上釉工人，加光工人

参考例句：

• There's no set figure from the Glazer family [for transfers]. 格拉泽家族没有设置限制。 来自互联网
• The Glazer family have insisted that Manchester United are not for sale. 格雷泽家族已经强调曼彻斯特联是非卖品。 来自互联网

7 solidarity   

n.团结；休戚相关

参考例句：

• They must preserve their solidarity.他们必须维护他们的团结。
• The solidarity among China's various nationalities is as firm as a rock.中国各族人民之间的团结坚如磐石。

8 choir   

n.唱诗班，唱诗班的席位，合唱团，舞蹈团；v.合唱

参考例句：

• The choir sang the words out with great vigor.合唱团以极大的热情唱出了歌词。
• The church choir is singing tonight.今晚教堂歌唱队要唱诗。

9 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。