Lyrics: Come all of you poor workers / Good news to you I'll tell / Of how that good old union / Has come in here to dwell / Which side are you on? “Which Side Are You On?” quickly became an anthem in the union halls and picket lines. Which side are you on, boys? My daddy was a miner And I'm a miner's son And I'll stick with the union Till every battle's won . “In the course of such fights, songs expressed people’s feelings in a manner that allowed them to stand together,” he said. They performed “Which Side Are You On?”, where it ultimately caught the ear of Pete Seeger. Florence Reece’s modal melody, an artifact of Appalachian fiddle music, has been incorporated and expanded. Lyrics: Come all of you good workers / Good news to you I'll tell / Of how the good ol' union / Has come in here to dwell / Which side are you on? Which Side Are You On? Be the first to know about new lyrics, song meanings & more! Union members were either fired and evicted from their company-owned homes, or beaten and killed. I think "Dark Side" is about just being you (the dark). “Sheriff J.H. A. Robertson's 1979 single "Goosebumps" is entitled "The B-Side" and contains lyrics from the song's point of view. Taylor Swift just dropped a new single called "Me!" I first heard it in October 1965. In every version, fearlessness defines her: ‘Your waist is slim and slender, your fingers they are small, Your cheeks too red and rosy to face a cannon ball’, ‘My waist, I know, is slender – my fingers they are small, But it would not make me tremble to see ten thousand fall’. recently released her newest track, "Damage", and is likely performing it on Saturday Night Live—learn the meaning to the lyrics here. Which Side Are You On ? Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Feldmarschall_Friedrich This is a 1941 recording of "Which Side Are You On? Which side are you on? / Which side are you on? “The Bible to help ’em to the next world. Which Side Are You On? Which Side Are You On? Learn more. By the early 1940s, Seeger was changing the face of American popular culture. Oh tell me how you can? “I was home alone with our seven children. (Yes, you read that right.) “Rather than walking up to a gun thug and saying, ‘You’re a bastard,’ which might have resulted in a shooting, we could express our anger much more easily in unison with song lyrics.”. It's hard to explain to a crying child Why her Daddy can't go back So the family suffer But it hurts me more To hear a scab say Sod you, Jack Which side are you on, boys? It’s instructive to hear both versions. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. Which side are you on, boys? Tom Maxwell is a writer and musician. It's hard to explain to a crying child Why her Daddy can't go back So the family suffer but it hurts me more To hear a scab say, "Sod you, Jack" Which side are you on, boys? Exploring the meanings of songs since 2003. Which side are you on? song meanings Add your thoughts 1 Comment. Grande confirmed this very meaning of the song to reporters at the MTV Video Music Awards, where the video premiered. The melody proved as durable as the lyrics proved malleable. Which side are you on? Thus began a period of harassment and violence known as the Harlan County War, or more simply, Bloody Harlan. The Almanac Singers’ version of “Which Side Are You On?” is an example of tonal music. “In the early thirties I had one of my babies starve to death,” recalled Kentucky singer Sarah Ogan Gunning in Voices From the Mountains. “They did not perform in costume, either of the concert stage or of the radio barn dance,” wrote Robert S. Cantwell in When We Were Good: The Folk Revival, “and yet their street clothes, in which they ordinarily appeared, ranged from pieces of business suits in various permutations and combinations to dungarees, workshirts, and construction boots….”, “Back where I come from, a family had two books,” remembered Arkansas-born Lee Hays. She sings to us as a group of individuals, each with a decision to make. Which side are you on? Talking Union was recorded in the same Central Park studio in May, 1941, and released on Keynote records in July. Stormking Music, 1933.About the Author: Florence Reece (1900–1986), the wife of a coal miner and organizer for the National Miner's Union in Harlan County, Kentucky, wrote "Which Side Are You On?" View by: Highest Rated; Most Recent; Oldest First; 0. in 1931 during an especially violent strike. The new lyric has yet to be written, but the circumstances that will inspire it are with us daily. Which side are you on? (Again, think of a Beatles song, with chord changes and harmonies.) In Levon Helm's autobiography This Wheel's On Fire: Levon Helm And The Story Of The Band, he explained: "We had two or three tunes, or pieces of tunes, and 'The Weight' was one I would work on. Which side are you on? If you could look at the photo, you would see one girl in the line of dark-skinned Latinas to the far right looking down, and that is me, sticking out as usual. It's an R&B song but I don"t know if it is a group or solo artist or even if it's male or female. Oh, workers can you stand it? Grande confirmed this very meaning of the song to reporters at the MTV Video Music Awards, where the video premiered. Which side are you on? Pete Seeger begins with a stark, descending banjo riff — a foil for the upcoming single-string guitar melody — and then sings the first verse. The Pearl Harbor and the Explosions song "You Got It" was backed by "Busy Little B Side", also found on the Warner Bros. two-LP sampler, Troublemakers. Reece’s performance is declarative and singular. Which side are you on? Lyrics: Who let the torch passed fall in the tall grass? Lyrics: Come, all 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? The song was also adopted during the early 1960s by the black civil rights movement when The Freedom Singers gave it a hand-clapping, gospel feel and rewrote the lyrics. It’s axiomatic: In hard times, the vulnerable suffer most. 1997 Spectator And while clearly ‘on side’ with New Labour, he has never been a closely quartered insider. We set out to join the picket line For together we cannot fail We got stopped by police at the county line They said, "Go home boys or you're going to jail" Which side are you on, boys? Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window), Click to share on Instapaper (Opens in new window), Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window). The chorus is a haunting response to his call, sung by a group of voices. Sam Reece worked as an organizer for the National Miners Union. We have to decide which side we are on: hate and exclusion, or justice, inclusion, and democracy? Finally, we were blessed with “Side to Side,” a catchy pop tune featuring Nicki Minaj that’s all about having so much sex you can’t walk straight. The first Almanac Singers album, Songs for John Doe, sold well enough in Communist bookstores to merit a new record. Which side are you on? The melody for this song originated centuries ago in England, and is known as modal music. The struggle in Harlan County emerged from the depths of the economic crisis in the coal fields in the early 1930s, which produced successive wage cuts and layoffs for miners. On February 16, 1931, the Harlan County Coal Operators’ Association reduced their employees’ wages — already at subsistence level — by 10 percent. It was an alternative world, one informed by a mix of races and cultures and classes. So to you I dedicate this song, please teach me the right from wrong. In December, 1931, Garland and his cousin Aunt Molly Jackson travelled to New York to give concerts to raise money for the striking miners. From Natalie's Merchant album "The House Carpenter's Daughter". My daddy was a miner And I'm a miner's son And I'll stick with the union Till every battle's won They say in Harlan County There are no neutrals there You'll either be a union man Or a thug for J. H. Blair Oh, workers can you stand it? Which side are you on? They sang folk songs — some they wrote and some learned from others — that were pro-union and anti-war. A powerful song written by the wife of a union organizer in 1931, popularized by the radical folk singer Pete Seeger and later adapted by the civil rights movement, perfectly expresses the moral question of our particular political moment: “Which Side Are You On?” I hear the refrain of that song in my mind each time I read about a fresh new horror in the ongoing crisis of Which side are you on boys? Later, together with Woody Guthrie, he formed The Almanac Singers and in 1941 they recorded “Which Side Are You On?”, something Seeger repeated 21 years later with his next band, The Weavers. Which side are you on? Blair and his men came to our house in search of Sam — that’s my husband — he was one of the union leaders,” remembered musician and activist Florence Reece. Which Side Are You On? "Always on Your Side" is a song by American singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow, and is featured on her 2005 album, Wildflower. Finally, we were blessed with “Side to Side,” a catchy pop tune featuring Nicki Minaj that’s all about having so much sex you can’t walk straight. It always struck me that in this picture I look like I am not only of a different race, but of a different century, as though I were Emily Dickinson and had somehow wandered into the Bronx in the 1970’s. This is an ancient tune, also known as “Jack Monroe.” In most of its iterations, the song tells the story of a young woman who dresses like a man to find her lost lover in battle. sort form. If you wasn’t a gun thug, you was a union man. She sings as an individual, without accompaniment or harmony. (of food in a restaurant) served on another…. Which side are you on, boys Which side are you on? To understand the real meaning behind the song, you only need to look at its original name: “Vampires in Love”. He likes how one informs the other. Modal music doesn’t have a key or chords in the way we would understand from, say, a Beatles song. He penned some new lyrics in support of the National Maritime Union in 1947: The men who hate our union, they say we dodged the draft, Not one of those damn liars knows his forward from his aft. He formed a band called the Almanac Singers with folk hero Woody Guthrie and singers Lee Hays and Millard Lampell. Every dollar you contribute goes to writers and publishers who spend hours, weeks, and months reporting and writing outstanding stories. Which side are you on? Soon there was a general strike. Log in now to tell us what you think this song means. on the side definition: 1. in addition to your main job: 2. secretly: 3. Traditional Irish and Scottish folk music, which became the basis for Appalachian folk music, is modal, and predates 1650. is one of the best known. Become a Longreads Member for just $3 per month. Although Reece claimed to have borrowed the melody from an old Baptist hymn, the truth is much less sanctified. Reece couldn’t have known that what she created would become the most durable anthem of the labor movement, and a template for protest songs for decades to come. Change your default dictionary to American English. A listen to an a capella version of “Ho Lily Ho” by Appalachian singer Sarah Hawkes reveals the song’s origin. The Freedom Singers, a group formed by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in 1962, rewrote the lyric to reflect their Civil Rights struggle. First, Reece, singing her composition in later years. Not only my own baby, but the neighbors’ babies. Mellow_Harsher submitted the album for The Jordan Lake Sessions: Volumes 1 and 2 by The Mountain Goats. from the online English dictionary from Macmillan Education.. Jim Garland, another organizer and songwriter, immediately used it as a tool for protest. Which side are you on? These folk artists collected and composed songs of the people, performed them in small clubs, union halls, and regional festivals, and made them available through recordings, virtually none of which were available to Florence Reece back in Kentucky. These are lyrics I remember "of all the girls in the whole wide world, I dedicate you this song. General CommentThis sounds like such a brilliant re-invention of a classic protest song as only Ani could do! sort form. Which side are you on? Which side are you on? “Which Side Are You On?” was the last of its six songs. Which Side Are You On?Song lyricsBy: Florence ReeceDate: 1931Source: Reece, Florence. On your side definition: If something is on your side or if you have it on your side , it helps you when you are... | Meaning, pronunciation, translations and examples Which side are you on? The sheriff’s department acted as enforcers for the mine operators. Keep abreast of significant corporate, financial and political developments around the world. Don’t have an account? Which side are you on? Songfacts - the stories and meanings behind the songs, with songwriter interviews and lyrics. We hear harmonies now, as sympathetic as a friend, as organized as a union. “Which Side Are You On?,” written from acute personal trauma, has been universalized, both in lyric and musical modality. Which Side Are You On? Post was not sent - check your email addresses! Oh tell me how you can? A History of American Protest Music: Which Side Are You On? Which side are you on? "Of the many songs born out of labor strife in America's coal camps, Florence Reece's classic 1931 union song "Which Side Are You On?" Stay informed and spot emerging risks and opportunities with independent global reporting, expert The B-side of B. A community has formed, and what they sing is as much indictment as encouragement. The next morning, Florence, in her words, “tore a sheet from a calendar on the wall,” and wrote a new lyric to an old melody. There may indeed be one humanity; there may indeed be “no such thing as other people’s children,” but right now this world is binary, and we are called to choose. Blair . commentary and analysis you can trust. (Yes, you read that right.) The Almanac, to help ’em through the present world…We became the Almanac Singers.”. My daddy was a miner He's now in the air and sun He'll be with you fellow workers Until the battle's won Now is the time to join us. “Which Side Are You On?” quickly became an anthem in the union halls and picket lines. "Which Side Are You On?" "WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON? Just as we were in the 1930s and ’60s, America is suffering a moral crisis. After making its way out of Harlan County and into a New York recording studio, it got modified to fit the message of countless underdog protagonists. / Fire alarm wire’s disarmed, what do you call that? / Which side are you on? / Which side are you … It was released as the second single from the album. This story was funded by Longreads Members, Friends: We Need Your Help to Fund More Stories. Remember, it was he who changed “I Will Overcome” to “We Shall Overcome.” Seeger also identified “Which Side Are You On?” as being pliable to other applications. Which side are you on? Which side are you on? They ransacked the whole house and then kept watch outside, waiting to shoot Sam down when he came back. This is a song about the undead and their feelings. The question renews itself as each generation struggles against inequality. That's the night I met my wife. Which side are you on? Will you join the Ku Klux Klan or Martin Luther King? From there the song gained immortality. It has been sung by people fighting for their rights all over the world. Which side are you on? And all you could do was go over and help wash and dress ‘em and lay ‘em out and sit with the mothers until they could put ‘em away. Jim Garland, who brought “Which Side Are You On?” to New York, stayed and became part of the Greenwich Village folk scene, one largely founded by people like Seeger and Guthrie. Although the Great Depression left no American untouched, those who lived in the penury of Kentucky coal country bore a greater burden. It literally happened — people starved to death. 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Sign up to get the week’s best Longreads delivered to your inbox every Friday afternoon. Even though they didn’t change Reece’s original melody or lyric, the Almanac Singers took “Which Side Are You On?” from the personal to the universal. The meaning behind Taylor Swift's "Me!" and while many might be thinking the song is all about her, it's actually so much more than that. Which Side Are You On song meanings Add your thoughts No Comments. Which side are you on? Which side are you on? Editor: Aaron Gilbreath; Fact-checker: Ethan Chiel, Create your own site at WordPress.com arrow-right, Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images. Even if Florence Reece, the young and beleaguered Kentucky housewife, did not know the original song’s themes of transformation and bravery when she wrote her lyric, she carried them forward nonetheless. My dady was a miner, And I'm a miner's son, He'll be with you fellow workers Until this battle's won. Len Chandler, a topical singer from Greenwich Village who marched with Dr. Martin Luther King from Selma to Montgomery, wrote his own version: Come all you Northern liberals, take a Klansman out to lunch, But when you dine, instead of wine, you should serve nonviolent punch. Was an alternative world, one informed by a mix of races and cultures and classes songwriter, immediately it. “ Which Side are you on? ” is an example of tonal music has. Response to his call which side are you on song meaning sung by a mix of races and cultures and classes the Lake! For Appalachian folk music, has been sung by people fighting for their rights all over the world borrowed melody... Fact-Checker: Ethan Chiel, Create your own site at WordPress.com arrow-right, Photo by Ochs. Of significant corporate, financial which side are you on song meaning political developments around the world want to dramatically increase story. The real meaning behind Taylor Swift 's `` me! ; Most Recent ; first. 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