Music

A RADICAL LABOR CLASSIC

Undoubtedly the most popular book in American labor history, the I.W.W.’s Little Red Song Book has been a staple item on picket lines and at other workers’ gatherings for generations, and has gone through numerous editions.

As a result of I.W.W. efforts to keep up with the times, however, recent versions of the songbook have omitted most of the old-time favorites, especially the raucous lyrics of the free-spirited hoboes who made up such a large portion of the union’s membership in its heyday. For example, recent versions have left out all but a few of the celebrated songs of Joe Hill, T-Bone Slim, Ralph Chaplin, and other pioneer bards of the One Big Union—and many of the few remaining older songs have been abridged or otherwise modified.

The steadily mounting interest in Wobbly history and culture warrants this facsimile edition of a classic Little Red Song Book from the union’s Golden Age. Reprinted here is the Nineteenth Edition, originally issued in 1923, the year the I.W.W. reached its peak membership.

Of the fifty-two songs in this book, the overwhelming majority have not been included in the I.W.W.’s own songbooks for many years. Here are such classics as Joe Hill’s “John Golden and the Lawrence Strike,” “We Will Sing One Song,” “Scissor Bill,” “The Tramp,” and others; T-Bone Slim’s “I’m Too Old to Be a Scab,” “Mysteries of a Hobo’s Life,” “I Wanna Free Miss Liberty,” and others; Ralph Chaplin’s “All Hell Can’t Stop Us,” “Up from Your Knees,” “May Day Song,” and more; and other songs by C.G. Allen, Richard Brazier, Pat Brennan, James Connolly, Laura Payne Emerson, and many others.

Ninety years ago these songs were sung with gusto in Wobbly halls and hobo jungles from Brooklyn to San Pedro. And they’re still fun to sing today!

Succinct and to the point, David Rovics demystifies the very different skills necessary to cultivate the arts of songwriting, guitar-playing and tour booking. In an era when the truly independent record label is virtually a thing of the past, Rovics explains how it’s possible to make a living as a recording artist without a label. At a time when the corporate record industry is suing music fans for sharing music, Rovics explains why the internet is good for independent artists, and how to utilize its potential. For those hoping to get a major record deal and become rich and famous, look elsewhere. But if you’re looking to make a living as an independent artist, this pamphlet is a must-read.

“For my parents and grandparents, Jewish identity, in religion, culture and language, was a given. Not so for me. I’m not religious, not a Zionist, so in what consists my Jewishness? Is a love of chopped liver and a belief that chicken soup cures all ills enough? And does it matter? This is the story of my search for answers. It is an argument with myself, with song lyrics to embellish the argument.”

Like so many of those others in Britain of Jewish lineage, songwriter and award-winning folk singer Leon Rosselson is descended from antecedents who fled pogroms in eastern Europe. Pertinently, he questions what being a Jew means—is it adherence to Judaism as a religion, an ethnicity, a citizen of Israel, or someone who eats “chicken soup with knedlach”? He describes clearly and with historical insight how any concept of “Jewishness” can involve all of those things and more. In his own life, he has decided to pick and choose from this tradition and history and build on what he deems to be the progressive, humane, and universalist values of that Jewish background.

Rosselson is a strong supporter of Palestinian rights, seeing in the victimization of Palestinians by the state of Israel parallels with historical Jewish persecution. He concludes this short essay by stating: “I share with the growing number of Jews in the diaspora who place solidarity with the oppressed above demands of tribalism and with those in Israel who dare to stand against the powers that be.”