which side are you on song meaning

Which side are you on? Oh tell me how you can? Will you be a lousy scab Or will you be a man? This story was funded by Longreads Members, Friends: We Need Your Help to Fund More Stories. Which Side Are You On? 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? So to you I dedicate this song, please teach me the right from wrong. The miners responded by organizing a union. commentary and analysis you can trust. 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. The chorus is a haunting response to his call, sung by a group of voices. Just as we were in the 1930s and ’60s, America is suffering a moral crisis. Jim Garland, another organizer and songwriter, immediately used it as a tool for protest. The Mountain Goats – The Jordan Lake Sessions: Volumes 1 and 2. Which side are you on? Which side are you on? 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. 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. View by: Highest Rated; Most Recent; Oldest First; No Comments Add your thoughts. Which side are you on? Which Side Are You On song meanings Add your thoughts No Comments. It was released as the second single from the album. "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?" Which side are you on? sort form. The Freedom Singers, a group formed by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in 1962, rewrote the lyric to reflect their Civil Rights struggle. Don’t have an account? / Which side are you on? 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. Oh, workers can you stand it? The sheriff’s department acted as enforcers for the mine operators. “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 sang folk songs — some they wrote and some learned from others — that were pro-union and anti-war. They say in Harlan County There are no neutrals there You'll either be a union man Or a thug for J.H. "WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON? "Which Side Are You On?" Which side are you on? The question renews itself as each generation struggles against inequality. 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’. (Again, think of a Beatles song, with chord changes and harmonies.) Which side are you on boys? Lyrics to Which Side Are You On by Pete Seeger from the Sing Out album - including song video, artist biography, translations and more! If you wasn’t a gun thug, you was a union man. (of food in a restaurant) served on another…. 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? Which side are you on? “The Bible to help ’em to the next world. 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? My daddy was a miner And I'm a miner's son And I'll stick with the union Till every battle's won . No Copyright infringement intended. Which side are you on? A community has formed, and what they sing is as much indictment as encouragement. The Almanac Singers’ version of “Which Side Are You On?” is an example of tonal music. We want to dramatically increase our story fund this year, but we can't do it without your support. Exploring the meanings of songs since 2003. Which Side Are You On? 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? Oh workers can you stand it? on the side definition: 1. in addition to your main job: 2. secretly: 3. sort form. Be the first to know about new lyrics, song meanings & more! (Yes, you read that right.) That's the night I met my wife. Will you be a lousy scab Or will you be a man? My dady was a miner, And I'm a miner's son, He'll be with you fellow workers Until this battle's won. Sign up to get the week’s best Longreads delivered to your inbox every Friday afternoon. He likes how one informs the other. Which side are you on? Which side are you on? 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, If you go to Harlan County, there is no neutral there, You’ll either be a union man or a thug for JH Blair. The actual say is: "You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar" This means that it is easier to persuade people if you use polite arguments and flattery than if you are confrontational. 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. Although Reece claimed to have borrowed the melody from an old Baptist hymn, the truth is much less sanctified. 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? 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 “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.”. Which side are you on? Which Side Are You On? Definition and synonyms of whose side are you on? Union members were either fired and evicted from their company-owned homes, or beaten and killed. 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. Which Side Are You On?Song lyricsBy: Florence ReeceDate: 1931Source: Reece, Florence. It’s instructive to hear both versions. A listen to an a capella version of “Ho Lily Ho” by Appalachian singer Sarah Hawkes reveals the song’s origin. Come all you Negro people, lift up your voices and sing. Now it’s our turn. 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? Will you join the Ku Klux Klan or Martin Luther King? 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. View by: Highest Rated; Most Recent; Oldest First; 0. Come all you good workers Good news to you i'll tell Of how the good old union Has come in here to dwell. Oh tell me how you can? Although the Great Depression left no American untouched, those who lived in the penury of Kentucky coal country bore a greater burden. Become a Longreads Member for just $3 per month. 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. It’s axiomatic: In hard times, the vulnerable suffer most. The characters in the song - Crazy Chester, Luke, Anna Lee, are based on friends of the band. Florence Reece’s modal melody, an artifact of Appalachian fiddle music, has been incorporated and expanded. Which side are you on? You seed them starve to death too. Which Side Are You On? 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? That’s right! “In the course of such fights, songs expressed people’s feelings in a manner that allowed them to stand together,” he said. I think "Dark Side" is about just being you (the dark). The meaning behind Taylor Swift's "Me!" By the early 1940s, Seeger was changing the face of American popular culture. Traditional Irish and Scottish folk music, which became the basis for Appalachian folk music, is modal, and predates 1650. Which Side Are You On? They performed “Which Side Are You On?”, where it ultimately caught the ear of Pete Seeger. From there the song gained immortality. song meanings Add your thoughts 1 Comment. “I was home alone with our seven children. She sings as an individual, without accompaniment or harmony. Stay informed and spot emerging risks and opportunities with independent global reporting, expert Which Side Are You On? H.E.R. These are lyrics I remember "of all the girls in the whole wide world, I dedicate you this song. 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. 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). “Which Side Are You On?” quickly became an anthem in the union halls and picket lines. Every dollar you contribute goes to writers and publishers who spend hours, weeks, and months reporting and writing outstanding stories. To understand the real meaning behind the song, you only need to look at its original name: “Vampires in Love”. 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. Which side are you on? Through the rolling years, “Which Side Are You On?” has been adapted and covered by myriad artists, including Dropkick Murphys and Ani DiFranco. Reece’s performance is declarative and singular. They ransacked the whole house and then kept watch outside, waiting to shoot Sam down when he came back. Soon there was a general strike. Not only my own baby, but the neighbors’ babies. 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. / Which side are you on? Oh workers can you stand it? It has been sung by people fighting for their rights all over the world. In December, 1931, Garland and his cousin Aunt Molly Jackson travelled to New York to give concerts to raise money for the striking miners. 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. tells the story of the classic union song that was written in 1931 by Florence Reece in a rain of bullets. The new lyric has yet to be written, but the circumstances that will inspire it are with us daily. 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? Original release by Florence Reece. Modal music doesn’t have a key or chords in the way we would understand from, say, a Beatles song. The B-side of B. 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. 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 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 From Natalie's Merchant album "The House Carpenter's Daughter". A History of American Protest Music: Which Side Are You On? Which side are you on? Which side are you on, boys Which side are you on? 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. First, Reece, singing her composition in later years. You had to be.” She is asking us to decide, because even if the idea of community, in the form of a union, was comforting, the reality is that people were being picked off one by one. Thus began a period of harassment and violence known as the Harlan County War, or more simply, Bloody Harlan. Which side are you on? “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. 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. 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. Songfacts - the stories and meanings behind the songs, with songwriter interviews and lyrics. 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. He formed a band called the Almanac Singers with folk hero Woody Guthrie and singers Lee Hays and Millard Lampell. The melody proved as durable as the lyrics proved malleable. Pete Seeger begins with a stark, descending banjo riff — a foil for the upcoming single-string guitar melody — and then sings the first verse. Because some people are afraid of the dark,and some people are afraid to be themselves,so I think the light is suppose to be representing a cover some peoople put on to hide who they really are. Which side are you on? Which side are you on? / Fire alarm wire’s disarmed, what do you call that? Lyrics: This government had an idea / And parliament made it law / It seems like it's illegal / To fight for the union anymore / Which side are you on, boys? We have to decide which side we are on: hate and exclusion, or justice, inclusion, and democracy? It was an alternative world, one informed by a mix of races and cultures and classes. 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?" 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?,” written from acute personal trauma, has been universalized, both in lyric and musical modality. Now with a library of over 300,000 user-submitted interpretations, if you want a song interpreted, Lyric Interpretations is the place to be. Mellow_Harsher submitted the album for The Jordan Lake Sessions: Volumes 1 and 2 by The Mountain Goats. Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Feldmarschall_Friedrich This is a 1941 recording of "Which Side Are You On? 1997 Spectator And while clearly ‘on side’ with New Labour, he has never been a closely quartered insider. 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. Now is the time to join us. Florence's husband Sam was a coal miner in Kentucky. Meaning of the famous line “Hello from the other side” Speaking with Rolling Stone about this famous line from the song, Adele said she was aware that the line sounds pretty morbid (as though she was no longer alive), but in reality, the line is basically about surviving your late teens and early twenties and transforming into a full blown adult. “Sheriff J.H. The melody for this song originated centuries ago in England, and is known as modal music. Seeger had a knack for popularization. from the online English dictionary from Macmillan Education.. Keep abreast of significant corporate, financial and political developments around the world. 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View by: Highest Rated ; Most Recent ; Oldest first ; 0 … Which are! Lyric has yet to be on one Side or the other, ” she once said hate. Aaron Gilbreath ; Fact-checker: Ethan Chiel, Create your own site WordPress.com... 'S actually so much more than that in England, and democracy homes, beaten. Library of over 300,000 user-submitted interpretations, if you want a song interpreted, lyric interpretations is the English. Commentthis sounds like such a brilliant re-invention of a classic protest song as only Ani could do 300,000 user-submitted,! On Patreon: https: //www.patreon.com/Feldmarschall_Friedrich this is the British English definition of whose Side are you?. Me on Patreon: https: //www.patreon.com/Feldmarschall_Friedrich this is a song interpreted, lyric interpretations is the British definition... Interpretations, if you want a song by American singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow, and released on Keynote in! Classic union song that was written in 1931 by which side are you on song meaning Reece in a rain of bullets t a thug.