PEOPLE , S S ON G'S Bulletin

Vol. I, No.2 of Pe ople 's Songs Inc., organi zed to create, promote distribute songs of labor and the· American people.

and " v March 1946

Singing In the News

I The press generally has , re­ported the upsurge of singing in meetings~ on picket lines and in demonstrations.

Soldiers overseas demon­strating in January f ·or speed­ing up demobilization were re­ported to have sung the old a rmy song, 'Gee, but I want to g o home' -with new words com­poseq for the occasion. A high army officer in Japan is said to have been so irrit~ted by this song that he threatened to jail the singers.

The recent ' Western Union picket line was noted for its constant use of" music via s ound truck. Many actors and singers appeared in STAGE FOR ACTImr shows.The ll ew York met­r opolitan press featured sto­r ies . of mass singing , on the picket line and reprinted sev­eral ver8'eS of songs.

Singi~g of the Jefferson Chorus and of stage for 'Action has been noted in the press as t hese groups have appeared on n~erous picket lines.

Philadelphia papers called "Union Maid"- the worst worn r ecord in the G'.E. strikers' collectron o,f union so~gs. The wires of the sound system were cut several times, presumably by police. ' .'.

Irony of our times: "Peat Bog Soldiers", the famous Ger­man' concentration camp song, l s now nuniber 1 -on the Be,rlin IIHit Parade".

To New Readers

Last month, in our first Bulletin, we outlined our pur­poses and our reason ,for exis­t ence .Due ·to the fine response' we are having this Bulletin printed by offset.

We - send out , this call to all union education director~, and to all farmer, labor, and people's organizations; to all poets and songwriters and mu­sicians; to sing'ers, . perform­ers, and chorus directors: Here are song s of democracy. We believe that sorigs shou~d be concerned with more than II June-m o on-croon " • There is a need for songs, about thinus in ~he world about us, and songs ' expressing the deepest aspira­tions bf all people for free­dom and equality.

Popular Song Writers Committee Formed

Popular songwriters hav e organized a working committe e in People's S ong s, , with Paul Secon a s secretary . The grou p has held several meetings and memberS have written s ong s with socd.al themes, and jingles for radio spots. Discussions have been held on treatments of social problems wh ich wou l d be acceptablB to the commercial mar Ket, as well as for t he growing trade union market. A represen tative of the yoiiti­cal ~ction Committee of CIO ha s met with the g roup a nd de­scribed the program of PAC for 1946 • . He s tre s sed the urge nt

. need for new songs dea ling with h ou s ing , full emp loyme n t, high .cost of living, and voter s ' reg i s tration.

Songwriters wishing to join and work ~ith thi s group of professional writers should write Paul Secon at the na tion a l office. '

The National Archive of People's Songs

An yone paying regular membership fees to Peop le I s Son g s\ can request material from the Archive.

WHAT IT IS: A collection of thousands of orig i nal song.';" and books, folk- songs, new song s of the people , and historical material. Sample catalog titles: Steel, ~,1 iner, Textile, Union Heroes, Union Dances, Jailhouse, Lumberjack,

, Farmer. ' WHAT IT DO~S: B~ings toge ther in one library all the

n,ew, songs being written for today' s needs; ' makes available to singers and writers the old and new material; provides a source of material for educational programs; for meetings, performances, etc.

tHAT YOU CAN DO: Send us manuscrlpts of new song s you are writing, to be filed in the Archive, and made availabl& for use. All copyright and royalty regulations are strictly observed. Send older song 's that you have used in the past. Even if they are out of date, they should be on record. Par­ticularly needed are copies o f old union 'songbooks and song sheets. Send listing s of material '/Ihich you have bu t cannot r e lease.

Union Record Companr Established

Union Records, a new record company, has jus t b e en e s ­tablished. Its purpose is stated in an ann ouncem en t from the cO,mpany: "The basic effort of the American pe ople fr om r evo­lutionary days through 'Norld War II has been to keep an d preserve the spirit of democracy. Union Rec or d s wil l d ocu- ' ment thin tradition of democracy as it is expressed in song and story anq, speeches of statesmen." . In keeping with this purpose, Union Rec~rd~ is starting out with three a ll?um,s ,Roosevelt 's Inaugural Addres s of ~ first in a series of FDR's broadcasts. Picket Line S ongs, famous union songs sung by the Jefferson Chorus. Scent of Magnolias, a satire on southeTn prejudice by Joel Miner . -

~oody Guthrie, Josh White, Peter Se e ge r, ~ary Lou Wil­liams" Huddie Leadbetter a-nd other well -known singers wil l be heard frequently on Union Record s .

All pressing s are on unbrea }~ble plastic . (Union Records, 119 'Nest 46 St., N.Y. C. 19, N .Y.)

'!fe have set up PEO'PLE'S SONGS. as a national collection point and outlet for this kind :of song. Do not let this BuI-

letin grow dusty. Put it into the hands of people who like to sing s , and have them become memb ers of PEOPLE'S SONGS.

Peoples Songs Copyright, t9d-6, by ' ~b'PL,,' S SONGS Inc.

r'ublished by P EO.PLI~' S Sm!GS, Inc., 130 ":est 42 St., LoY-C. Pe ter Seeger, Executive Secretary Official Organ of P;!;OPLE' S SOl.!GS, Inc.

'l' empor :1.ry n rganizing committee: Robert Claiborne, Horac'e Gre­ne ll, He rb ert Haufrecht, Lee Hays, Lydia Infeld, George Le­v i ne, S i mon Ra dy, Peter Seeger.

Advi s ory committe e: Saul Aarons, Charlotte Anthony, Edith Alla i r e, Bernie Asbel, Dorothy Baron, Oscar Brand, Agnes Cunn ingham, G. Gabor, Jack Galin, Tom Glazer, Michael Gold, 'Noody Gu t h rie , Ba ldwin Hawes, Waldemar Hille, Zilphia Horton Bur l Ives , Robert Kates, Paul Kent, Rockwell Kent, Lou Kl e inman , r.a lla r d Lam pe ll, John Leary, 1~ ildred Linsley, Bess Lomax , '.'1a lte r Low en fels, Frances Luban~ Jessie Lloyd O!Con­nor, Sha ema s O' Sh ee l, David Reif, Earl Robinson , Bob Rus­se ll, Bet t y Gande r s , Pa ul Secol1, Naomi Spahn, Horman Studer, 'Uke Stra tton, Jos h White , Hy Zaret.

Inc or p ora ted Feb. 1 946 under the laws of the State of New Yor k by : Peter Seege r, Lee Hays, Robert Claiborne, Horace Grene ll, a nd Herbert Haufrecht.

"lue s for Ac tiv e Uembers: ~5 per year <-·u s t a ining Memberships: 'i(25 or more per year -' rou p ~.i embe r ships: 10 or more members of a chorus, dramatic,

un ion , fra terna l or other group may become memb e rs at fl p·e r person. State name of person to receive all c0pies of Bu l le tin for d i s tribution.

Don't Kill the Goose

Although the memb ership of PEOPLE ' s ~3or:G~, i n cludes many s i nger s , it d oes not operate as an organization of perform-

But since no organization dealing with t)1e special' prob­lem s of singers and writers of progressive songs exists at presen t, we feel obligated to call attention to a practice i n jurious both to these artist s , and to the groupE which ne e d their servi ce :] .

Pla nners of mee ting s or parties take it for granted that the ir budge t must include rent, advertising, tickets, and l ike expenses. They rarely include a fee for entertainment S ingers can't pay rent with applause. •

If t h e labor movement is aware of the importance of songs 90mposed for picket lines and meeting halls, and desires to use t h em , then it is the responsibility of the labor move­ment t o he lp support the singers and writers who produce t h e se s ong s. It is true that very few of these artists ex­pect to -<lam --tho1r e trt'ire '"living rom ' s work. But ft is easy to see that singers and writers will be able to give mor e o f the ir time and talent to the service of the labor mov emen t +n proportion to financial support offered.

It i sn t wise to kill the g oose who lays the golden egg; feed her a nd she'll produce bigger and better ones.

A Mark to Aim At

"': ' ei! :" e sta t ed in our last issue that P J<:O?LE'S SOt'GS i n t e n d s to exchang e material wi th groups in for­e i gn c ount r ies, on e of the grou p s which we had in mind was t he Work er.s Music Association of Great Britain. It is a model for us to aim at.

In t h e . ten years of its exi~tence, it has built up a la rge membership, with over 200 affiliated groups in t he t rade uni on a nd coopera t ive movements. It publishes a mo~th ly magazine, and 'songbooks, sheet mUSic, and c ri t~cal a nd hi~torical monographs, such as: "The Sing­i n g ~"nglishman, I "Backg round Of "'he Blues," and "The Comp ose r Mu s t Live."

-2-

Attention, Songwriters:

Song writers should begin thinking about songs that will be needed in the fall cam­paigns.

Writers should visit their local PAC offices and talk with union leaders about plans for the fall campaign. Songs of general purpose, and songs which may easily be adapted for specific candidates and local issues should be prepar­ed during the summer, and re­cordings made at that time.

IMMEDIATELY NEEDED: Songs about Gerald L. K. Smith, the Freeport murders, the high cost of living, picket lines, labor unity. Housing for vete­rans, the fight against Rankin and Bilbo,Hearst and Pe g ler, should be put into songs.

Not to be neglected are the serious compositions sta ting the people's concern about a­tomic power,about labor's role in the peace, and our concern for suffering minority people s everywhere.

Choruses Must Get Together

One of the main purposes of PEOPLE'S 501ms is to provide a central office to which trade union choruses can a pply for new material. We now send out a ~all to all such choruses to help us establish this music exchange. What arrangements do you have which may be used b y other groups? In a subseqL;en t issue we will announce the d u­et, trio, quartet and choral arrangements which have been made available.

CHORUS MEMBERSHIPS

Ten or more members of tho­ruses, unions, fraternal or other groups may join PEOPLE' S SONGS with the Group Member-

---ship plan .Fees are $1 per per­son. Copies of the Bulletin wi1;}' be mailed to a person de­signated by the group to re­ceive and distribute them.

Request for "Boo, Boo, Boo,"

In stories of the Paterson textile strike of 1913, we are told that John Reed wrote a song for the strikers of which the chorus was "Boo !Boo !Boo!". Big Bill Haywood told how he taught the song to strikers in Ireland,to Sing to the police, who shortly thereafter went a­way. Such a song should not be lost. Who can give us more in­formation about this and other songs of that day?

* .. * Who can supply words and music for "Bill Bailey"?

8

Record Notes

Now that the wa r i s, over, establi shed recording companies are rushing to re­c ord n ew material and re-press old mate­rial which went out of stock when shel­lac was hard to get. Small independent outfits a s usual are turn i n g out records of i n terest to memb e r s of PEOPLE' S SONGS.

Keyn ote Records (5 2 2 5th Av., N. Y .C. ) announces that within thre,e months they will re prin t the Almanac album, "Talk­!!l8. Un ion"; a nd the f ollow ing numbers:

" Picket line Prrsci l la" , sung by Bea­tr i ce Y.ay

"Hor se wi th ~ Un i on label", s ung by Ton?, Kr abe-r--

'J oe Hill", sung by Mi chae l Loring

Asch Record s are now issuin g a new labe l, DISC. Their f i r s t albums continue wi th t he t ype of ma t er i a l t hat made Asch

Fifty Cent Butter and Fifty Cent Meat

well known during t h e war: cla ss ical mUSiC, hot jazz, Calyps o, folk, a nd u­nique foreign record ing s. (DI SC Re cord­i n g Co., 117 West 4 6 s t., N. Y. C. )

Gen eral Records i s t ry i ng t o get Ea rl Robin s on's "S ongs f or Ameri cans" r e - pressed , bu t i s having tr oub l e with t h e pressing compan i e s, a s are other companies. Repor t s a r e tha t one compa ny r e fused to hand l e the Robin­son album b ecau se of the "political na t ure" of the s ongs. (General Rec­ords , 160 0 Broadway , N . Y.C • )

New c ompan i es are having the hard. es t t i me o f a ll. Until new pressing f ac t or i es a r e bu i lt, established con­c e r ns can charge what they like . One n ew c ompany i s anx i ous to record union s ong s but has had to de l ay its program for at least s i x months .

'No:rds : Almar ~ acs-Young Tune: Trar" itional

1 . Come all you people and listen while I sing, this high cost of livi ng i s a t errible thing. You buy a loaf of breed and some corned beef hash, al l you got lef t i s petty ca sh. Now

c~ h~ t c;. eh ,\ ~~ ~ If, t ~ "r

if?), , :11 Every. de y y'>u go t1 the store prices hit the cei11nG just a 11 ttle bit mor e look a t F.

: ,", , . ~ , ' .( " l, " t;e f'iL \ t .J me, it s only half as long as it used t o be

G

J I)}J D' ~

~ ylJ J l I J Ii J i J ij J IliJ (CHORUS) WITH FIFTY CENT BUTTLR ABD FIFTY CENT MEAT, HOiV IN THi: BEL CAN 10 POOR MAN EAT "I

2 . Pow, ever yone ' ll tell you , I worked a l l my life 3. When wintertime comes, there's hell to pay. Coa l ' s g one up t he same old way. Supportin' t hree k i ds al~d a lov ir~g wife .

B:' lt I ' m a-gonna t e ll you , I ' m pretty darn si c k ; T'lere ' d be tte r be action and it bet t e r be quick .

;.!y congressman spenrls his whole darn day Trying to k i ll my O. P .A .

High er rent, k i ds t o dress , . How I ' m g onn a do it i s anyb ody ' s guess .

Sven t he bugs in the kitchen sink

Go '- na wr ite my congressman somethirg to remember ,1e ' el bett"'-'r ,t,art th i n>:inp; of next t:ovembe r

Wi t h flfty c~m butter and fifty c en t meat, How in tne hell can a poor man eat?

Have gone on str i ke for more food and drink . 1.'lell , I b e t ter get food , ann clothes to boot Or I' l l s ta r v e t::J dea t h i n my birthday suit!

'.'I i tl1 f i f t y c ent butter . and fifty cent meat, How i n t he hell can a poor man eat?

4 . '!l ow , w'1en you ask the cause of it all , They'll hand you a lie atout six foo t ta ll. They'll cry and scream and tear their hair About the high cost of being a mi lliona i re .

Take a full page ad in the Daily I'ews ,

NOTICE:

To blame it on the strikers , the reds and the Jews . '."ell , I ' m born i n the bushes a nd ralsed i n the woods , But you can 't sell me that bill of goods.

"lith fifty cent butter and fifty cent meat , How in the 'lell can a poor man eat?

,\,os t of the follow ing four­t een songs ar'e copyrighted, ann may not be reprinted , or ueed i n any form for profit, with ­ou t pe r mi ss i on of the composer or copyright owner. Any commun­ications sent to t hese compos ­ers care 'of PEOPLE'S S(]"GS will

9 The Scabs Crawl In

J

be forwa r ded . .

Words : Anon . Tune : The 'Norms Crawl In

II THIS 50r.G 1IJ.f' NO El' Dn:G.

KEEP ON GO nIG The scabs crawl i n, the scabs crawl out , the Icabs crawl under and all about .

2. They crawl by day, they crawl b y night, They crawl becau st. they ' re a f"'aid to fi gh t

3 . They c r awl ir. early , they crawl in late, They crawl in under the factory gate .

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o f t o

This is not a "performance song" but is one t he very best chants for a bunch of pickets t a ke up when they see some scabs sneaking in

or out o f the plan t.

10 Homeless Blues

-

A

blue, I ,ot a giy. iD, .oarch-ing FF I '-:7.triY- ing , It

blu.,. I lot­••••• .0 darn.d

liye in, riv- . ing

can't .ta,.. o. P. A. No - wher •• "It 7 tir.t ;rou're ,p.ot •

Words and music by Paul Kent r,opyri~t 1946 by Paul Kent

po,

o .ar ';

.oa. rOD-tal. low, " 'lt a - laln,

place to .ta;r .1nc. hou.- ing 18 rl~t

pack-ins boa,·.... ..... .. ooboa, or .. bun- 10,- ter t., ... ~1 ain't .0

riY low on

arg •• da7.

I' ••• ek-ing .~-th1ng .. d- i-am or It I oould ey 7 er 7 tin4 on., w~ I'd

aaall ell' lars.. ''!he one place that I ha.,. to -;r, 7 ''fhat kiM ot I dOUSh 18

round, I could-n't

long, I got-ta roUl, Ain't gon-na .ta,. and gr1eye horo, .0 ho.~

11 Listen. Mister Bilbo Words by Bob and Adrienne Tune: Tradltional

tti) JI JIB ~i ii· ill IJJ.~n J In ~ff Ip p p

Claiborne

Lister., Wister Bilbo. listen to me; I'll give you. le.son in history. Li.ten .hil. I abo. you that the

~ D' & t h p P V J }} Iii J i i V ~I~}}ij !' I· Copyright 1946 by Bob and Adrienne Claiborne. Not to be reprinted wlthout pennisslon. foreigner. you hate, are the yery same people mad. America great.

2.In fourteen-ninety-two, just to see what he could see, Columbus, an Italian, 'looked out across the sea. He sald, Isabella, babe, the world is round, And the U.S.A.' s just a-waiting to be found.

3. In s lxteen.-O-nine, on a bright . summer's day, The Ha If Moon set anchor in old New · York Bay. Henry Hud son, a Dutchman, took a good look around, said "Boys, this ls gonna be one ~clluva town;"

4.When the King of England started pushing Yankees around They h~d a little trouble up in Boston Town. . There was a brave Negro, Crispus Attucks was the man, Was the first one to fall when the fightlng began.

(Repeat first verse)

5.Colin Kelly was the pilot, a-flying down low, Levin pushed the button th~t let the bomb go. They sunk the Haruna to the bottom of the sea; It was foreigners like these kept America free.

4-

6. Now Bl1bo, you're taking one helluva chance.

Your good friends, the Du­pon ts, came over from France.

Another thing, I'm 9.lre, will be news to you:

The first Mr. Bilbo ' was a foreigner, too.

7. You don't like Negroes, you don't like Jews.

If there's anyone you do like, it sure is news.

You don't like 'Poles, Ital­. ians, CatholiCS, too. Is it any wonder, Bilbo, that we don't like you?

12 D.D.T. ','/ords by Le e Hays a n d 'Nalte r Loewenfels Tun e b a s ed. upon American folk melody

-I dreamed I went t o laahington. I took along ~ li t tle apray gun . I fill ed 1 t up

~ Q. l)

J tV'll t l' J lE I1J nJlldHlJflJIJ J cockroach and it kill. the flea

with the D. D.T . in it

up

(Copyrig ht 1946 by Lee Hays and Wa l te r Loewenf"els . t' ot t o be reprinted 'lIit110u t permi s s i on . )

Wh e n te e Hays sin gB t h is, h e u sua lly adc. s a f e w line s d i re.cted righ t at · the people he ' s s i nei ng for. If it s an A . L . P . r ally, for exam2-le, he'll add "'Ne ' v e &.ot t o !"lave more of t he A . L . P .; we ' v e g ot t o hav e more ra ll i es li ke this, " and s o on , fi n i s hing"""With' the b. st l i nelast ' of the song: "And thRt wi ll do • •• • what I d r eam 0d I d id~ • ••• in Washinc ton •••• wi th t h e D. D. T . "

13 Keep That Line A-Moving Wor-:'. s by C:18.rlot t .3 An thon y and Ja n ic e Trem bke Tur, e : '!'h e Gos pe l '!'ra i n (Get On Board , Li t tl e Child ren)

Whee Cha rlotte An thony went down to Si ng on the sound truc k at t he We s t ern Uni on p i ck0 tl i ne, sh e wa s s truck by a phrase the p ic ke t capta In kept shou ting t hrough the , louds peaker, an d she turned it in t o a song .

1 . The un - i on The fare i .

~ 0'

~ ; p

... t rain i& cowing. I hear it clo.e at hand , cheap and all can go,no co- lor line 1. there ,

hear the car wheels mo~ 1ng No .e- cond cIa.. a - board th1s

j) QJ

'.' G :b 1 5. }) Jl ~ A 10, bAJ' ~ the

~ ;'1 and

train , no

fb rumbling t hrough difference 1n

land, the tare, (CHOBllS . ) UEP TlUT LIlli A.-1I0VING UEPTIUTLIHI: ~-IIOVING . . KUP THAT

, . t. iJ LIXi A-MOVING, TBi:Ri:' S BQ()I lOR IU.lJT ~ YOU!

2 . We 've g o t so m= y blis t e r s From wa lk i ng up and down . T', e b o s s has g ot SOr!le b l iste r s , Bu t · jus t f r om sitting down.

And why should we be slaV i ng , ~h ile Egan* only s its To p lan a com i ng out party For h i s dau~hter at the Rit z ?

(r epeat ch'orus ) * Chang e

3 . The un i on i s beh i n d u s To fi gh t f or b e t ter p'ay .

t oo, We' l l s t ay r igh t he r e on the picke t ~ i ll t he b oss' s hair i s gray.

And t hough he' l i try to break us, And try to ma ke i t t ough, If we j u st kee p a s olid line We' l l su r e l y ca ll h i s blu f f.

t o s uit y ourse lf (Repe at chorus)

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14 Two Popular Parodies 15 16 Join the Picket Line Today

Words by Larry Stewart Tune: "It's B!!en A Long, Long Time

We'll picket once, and picket twice, And picket once again. It's been a long, long time. Haven't had a raise, my friends, Sinoe I can't remember when. It's been a long, long time. All thro~h the war we did our beat, We kept on giving. Now we're entitled to a A decent livirig. So -Picket once, and picket twice, Until we win the fight. It's been .a long, long time.

(Repeat first six linea) They say we're holding up production On their t.oaaters. But if we can't buy bread What good are toasters? So -Picket once, and picket twice, Till G. E. sees the light It's been a long, long time.

Worda by Paul Secon Tune: "Dance .1 th A Dolly"

I've got a date on a p1cke~line On a picketline, on a picket line. I've got a date on a picket11ne, Gonna J 01n my buddiee there.

Pm gorma carry a picket e1gn, A picket sign, a picket sign . I'm gonna carry a picket sign And march with my buddies there.

We're fighting for a raiae in pay, A rai.e in pay, a raise in pay. And nothing that the bosses say WUl make us change our !!linds, NO!

I've got a date on a picketline, On a picketline, on a picket line I've got a date on a picketline; Come on and join me there.

* * * * *

17 Who Are You With, Your HOIlor?

Words: Anthony-Trembke Tune: " Alexande r' s Ragtime

Band"

Come on along, come on along, Join the picket line tOday. Come on along, come on along, Join the strike for higher pay .

And if the .scabs try to break ua

Here's what we'll ,lay, "Shame on you, scab, Did you 'work hard today?

'Ie'll win a raise the union way" In api te of you." Come on along, come on along, Join the picket line today Come on along, cOm. on along, Join the strike for higher pay.

And when the boss is ~re He's' got us licked, We'll still be singing,

Come on along, come on along, Join the picket line today!

Words by Shaemas O'Sheel Tune: Where Do We Go Fr om Her.e

Who are you with, Your Honorl- I hear the paoille shout. 'You cop. are help1ng rat.a and .cab •• now what'e it all a-

c'~ C' F ' ~D C' F C' ~ , SD F C7 F

$bfl1li p r i ly)iJ }IJ j J } Ii 1.1) 1 j J :P I~, r y 13 iJ tid. I bout? We ut lQu in the City Hall,_and •• can pYA. .you ~ut , :c ~~ ;o.~ yo-a nth, Y-our HOMr, and. lI'~~'. it all ~boutl

2.',vho are you with , Your Honor* and who are you with today? We're s tri k i ng for a living wa g e, and a decen t ra te of pay. Your cops are breaking picke t lines , I hear the ntrikers s'ay SO, who are you with, your Honor? We want to b , ow todfl.Y.

* Use here the name of the specific mayor, or city politiC­ian, whom you are Singing this to.

18 Poor Old C. E. Wilson_

iJ .,;

Poor old C. E. lIil.on, he can't afford to pay. He hardly get. along

r G D

J11 r ~ J -"I ~, * )1 J ~ 2 . The forces of reaction

In halls of Congress ride , 3. They call for cooling off time

And a hundred more delays, And despe rately they're seeking To stem the union tide. But clear across the nat ion Twelve million workers say, In spite of t heir in j unctions The union's here to stay.

In sp i te of their injunctions The union 's here to stay.

But NOW the kids are hungry, And not in thirty days. So hold your line unflinching Until you get your pay. From Oregon to Newark line The union' s here to stay.

From Oregon to Newark l.ine The union's here to s tay.

-6-

It is sad but true that many a politican has been elected with labor votes, and before the coming of spring has t u rned against the very people that helped elect him. In view of this fact, Shaemas O'Sheel turned out this little ditty, into which can be inserted the name of any specific polit ic-ian you want to sing about.

Words by ~i ck Levins Tune: American folk melody

J on hi. thousand bucks a day. Re-

JlJ ~~ i J )Ir to J )I~. D C.E •• i1.on, the union'. here to .tay!

* * * * This song could be used

espeCially well by either the G.E. workers or the G.M. work­ers, depending on whether you are singing about Charles "El­ectriC" Wilson, or Charles "En­g ine" Wilson.

The thre e s ong s on this pag e deserve special -mention , becau s e they were can pos e d on orde r by we l l ­lmown son gwriter-s for the CIO-steelworkers. In two wee k s -time they were composed and record e d , a nd play ed on s oundtrucks on picketline s in Pittsburgh a nd elsewhere. It -shows what can be don e when a spec ific a s signmen t is laid d own, a nd money with it to carry the project th rough .

19 I WENT DORN TO THE STEEL MILL Word s: Tom Glaze r Tune: s t. J ames In f irmary

I went down to t he s teel mill An d I sa w my pay check the r e . It was s t re t ched ou t on the b oss' s table So sma l l . so th i n , so bare.

20 I'm ·the Guy

,~)£) 8'

r I ~

So I took tha t little old 'pay - chec k Down to the g rocery s to re , Whe r e I bought a little can o f ba ked b eans And I d i dn 't hav e ! pay-check n o more .

Wor d s ani mus i c by l:: l e anor Young .

, yes. I'm the guy. make. all the ~oke in the Pittsburgh ek7.

8T :rke in the mil~ from

I r r r' b I iii 1,lh_J! J pi J J J. au.n to au.n . making steel for everyone. My ateel built the Impire iltate the paring knife and th&

f1 l' Obi I J' p~ J. 11[,;'8 JI G r r r ~ Its J, rord V-Eight. Ain't 1t a ahame I got to 8ay ••• man can't live on ~ take hOIllll p.y. "

2 . I ' m the f UY, ye s , I' m the r u y , Earn s a Vla E'e y ou could ':JU t i n you r eye. And ev ery time they ra i ~e a pr ic e , my pa ycheck me lts lik e a cub e o f ice . Yes , when i t comes to the ol d pay ro l l I ' m low man on the totem po l e , An d t ha t' s why you ' l l hea r me sa y, "A ma n ca n 't live on my take-home pay. "

. 3. I'm a pea c e fu l guy , j ust an or dinary guy ,

I t a'1n 't fur coa t s t ha t I want to buy . But I 've nev e r seen t he f e l l ow yet Could ra i se f ou r k i ds on wha t I g e t. I don ' t wan t t o live l i ke a mill i onaire , Al l I vl a n t' s a n Ameri can shar e , A, 'd t ha t' s why you ' ll hea r me s a y, "A mar can ' t live on .my t a l~e - h ome pay ."

21 Money In the Pocket Wor d s by Bob Russell r.lu s i c by Carl S i g man

EP ~ . err ~ fi~ EP

~,» H ~ J )1 J ;II ]lq~J. 1 J JI )~J! J ~I J Jl pJ I~Jl tI ]I p 11 r M Money in the PQcket is f ood on the table food on tha tabla i8 caah in the till. When the t11l i8 loaded

~ H~t;)rsb P# J A)~)ij piNhiJ )\j ) ~~'J. 11,' .... ' " .b1. ~~ flU u p ' '''' '='''~~bo .... ,. ",fill. ....... 1. '~,..'''''' ~. b:4P .... , •• <oqu, ...... £

fO :e J!~J'.J JlI ~ } pJ lijlp $ p Jl r ~f p p N AIJ JI~VJ ~ c othe8 for the ki 1dieB , a dress f or the wife , ~ )ney f or the doctor,a ehow when 70u're tired. i8 living'a normal A-, EP» ~. ~ ~

~

merican life . From the worker t o t he merchan t , the dollar teke8 a businea8 trip. Then off to the farmer, 'iF ~ J~ r ~(;iH§;!i\hJ!lP~ff IShU J J!I~ J! i;lJZJ. to

buy new equipment, and back to the worker in a 8alary allp . Everybody proapera, the butcher, the grocer, ,,1 :e ~5 J II J IfJ p j lijf ~ IfJ ~ j r J!I~' p ~ ;111: great 18 the country, and fina 18 the ~end . loIu.et t here be depr • • a1on1 The an .. er is "110, Sir!"

~_a~~~r~iJ~~~J~~§J~I1~. ~~~;~~~~~~~J~~~~~fi~~~~p~p~""~r~~~II~~~~~~ ~~.y ~;g~! ~~~~i~~e~o~ i ~~~~~ l~e~f s~~~;; • S1gman .

Money in the pocket ie money to spend!

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CroSs Country Correspondence

Foilowing are excerpts from letters received in response to the first Bul­~etin of PEOPLE'S SONGS.

MASSACHUSETTS ••• "Anything we· can do for you will be an extreme pleasure. Please accept. our gratitude for your suggeGtions and great help to morale."

CALIFORNIA •••• "Your. pew organization sounds wonderful. Naturally and logically and with great emphasis, I am for 1t. I too feel strongly that pro­duct10n should be the1mportant thing, production of new songs and musical ideas, revival of old labor and people's soogs·with changes of words, new

' lyrics, etc. "

CALIFORNIA •••• "1 have been working on the organization of a Youth Theatre, composed of over a hundred teen age young people of Negro, Mexican, Jewish . back­grounds. Last summer we put on a musical revue, on the theme of inter-cultural uni ty, called "Hello, Neighbor, Hello". This year we will do another revue, but the content will be a l1ttle broader - it will include a variety of problems that these kids are facing - unemployment, discrimination and housing. But we are short of good materials, particularly good songs, simple enough for our kids to sing, but with a point of view ••• The only reactionary they are really conscious of is Gerald L. K. Smith. Police brutality' is one of the biggest is­sues, since we have a semi-Fascist group ' of po11ee who are carrylng on a cam­paign to terrlfy the kids of minority groups •• "

NEW YOR CITY. ."Enclosed is $5. for a membership. Since I have been collect­ing union and people's songs for several years, I am very interested in your project. I shall call it to the attention of my union and my ALP club •• "

ARYANSAS • • • •• "Got up to sing at union meeting ~riday week ago and thought the roof would blow off. But we knew only the one song, ''We shall not be Moved" and we sang the Jesus verses of it along with the unlon verses and then we sang both over agaln, and sang lt on the way home. I would 11ke to know where to get more of those old time union hymns we used to sing. Send me word •• "

CALIFOP..NIA •••• "The song, 'The Rankin Tree', cute as lt ls, does not tell much about the man himself except that you don't 11ke him. It is important for the people to understand, wi thin the swell folk style set up, some oT the things he has done and why he should be cut down, and why there should be great re­jOicing when he does get cut down, i.e., poll tax, clev~r use of anti-Semltism, anti-Negro and anti-red statements, etc. Get me?" ••• (A later letter from the s·ame correspondent also discusses 'The Rankin :t'ree', as follows.) . ' •• "Just a note to let you know that I sang 'The Rankin Tree' for a meeting of six thousand recently where it was, I must say, quite successful. •• "

FLORIDA • •• • ."Enclosed is $5 for a membership and a little more as a con­tribution. The work is swell! •• "

W' ordsheets Available

30ngs on this list of mimeographed picketline wordsheets are for sale at 5~ a copy. Pending publication of full music arrangements, these sheets provide only the words. Order' by number. 1. Scab Song • • • • • • • • • • • 2. Union 11aid • • • • • • • • •

Anonymous Almanacs

Paul Secon Oscar Brand

Bernie Asbel English Transport Workers

3. I've Got a Date on a Picketline 4. We'll Keep Marching ••••• 5. I'm A-looking for a Home 6. Hold the ' Fort • • • • • ••• 7. Put on your old Union Button 8. Casey Jones (Union version) 9. Roll the Union On • 10. Solidarity Forever 11. Song of the Pennies 12. Join the Picketline Today • 13. Keep that q.ne A-moving •• 14. Get Thee Behind Me, Satan

• • • • • Anonymous Joe Hill

New Era Schools Ralph Chaplin

Henry Foner C. Anthony - J. Trembke C. Anthony- J. Trembke

15. Listen, Mr. Bilbo • • • •• Bob and • • •• Almanacs Adrienne Claiborne Lowenfels and Hays • • • Bernie Asbel Hays and Lowenfels

16. D. D. T. . • . •.•.••.•.•. 17. They're Marching for You •••• 18. Mississippi Sweetheart •••• 19. That's for You •••• .••• 20. Picket Once and Picket Twice 25. UE version of Casey Jones 26. Poor Old C.E. Wilson •••••

Larry stewart • • •• Larry Stewart

• • • • Hill and others • • • • Dick Levin

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