#ralph chaplin

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The Sabo-Tabby, Probably Drawn by IWW Organizer Ralph Chaplin 1918

Labor’s wrath and hope and sorrow, Red the promise, black the threat, Who are we not to remember? Who are we to dare forget?

Black and red the colors blended, Black and red the pledge we made, Red until the fight is ended, Black until the debt is paid.

#BlackCat

I just discovered this absolute banger of a labor anthem, “Solidarity Forever” by Ralph Chaplin. There have been a lot of variations over the last century, and it’s still used by labor organizations in the US, Australia, and Canada, but I especially like this older recording by Pete Seeger. I’ve always loved the cadence of the Battle Hymn of the Republic, and this song has all of that without the “cheering on a crusade/the end of the world” bit.

Here are the lyrics, since YouTube’s auto-captioning is terrible:

(To the tune of The Battle Hymn of the Republic)

Chorus: Solidarity forever, Solidarity forever, Solidarity forever, For the union makes us strong.

When the union's inspiration through the workers' blood shall run, There can be no power greater anywhere beneath the sun; Yet what force on earth is weaker than the feeble strength of one, But the union makes us strong

[Chorus]

It is we who plowed the prairies; built the cities where they trade; Dug the mines and built the workshops, endless miles of railroad laid; Now we stand outcast and starving ‘mid the wonders we have made; But the union makes us strong.

[Chorus]

They have taken untold millions that they never toiled to earn, But without our brain and muscle not a single wheel can turn. We can break their haughty power, gain our freedom when we learn That the union makes us strong.

[Chorus]

In our hands is placed a power greater than their hoarded gold, Greater than the might of atoms, magnified a thousand-fold. We can bring to birth a new world from the ashes of the old For the union makes us strong.

*Ralph Chaplin.