Dear Gary D.,

Great theme! How about Ain't No More Cane On This Brazos, My Boy" (in Dt), a rhythmic, blues-y work song about prison-detail cane-cutters in the deep south? Or Jim Croce's "Workin' at the Car Wash Blues"? Or, speaking of slavery and enforced work, "Go Down Moses"? Or the struggle to find a livelihood in difficult times, as in "Times A' Gettin" Hard, Boys"? For kids, there are things like, "I been Workin' On The Railroad" and, (Forgive me, Peter T., wherever you are!), Disney's "Hi Ho! Hi Ho!" from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" (know it's not folk -- yet)? Or the contrast of a workingman's dreams and their fulfillment in his daughter's life, in "My Father Always Promised Us That We Would Live In France"? Or the wistfulness of "It Goes Like It Goes" (which I just learned from a young friend) from the movie, Norma Rae, which is about a struggle to unionize southern textile workers? Or the wonderful "Gum-Boat Clogeroo," recently posted by Tim Jaques, about celebrating lobster fishermen? Whew! Someb'dy else take a turn! I'm outta breath!

KUTGW,

Shula