Work Songs & Labor Movement

Subject: Lyr Add: THE IDLE WELDER^^
From: Barry
Date: 12 Oct 97 - 07:52 PM

That song about coding software would be White Collar Holler. It's in the DT. It was taken from the railroad work song Lining Track. Where do you go with this? It seems that you're looking at not only work songs (songs used as tools while working) but also songs about work (ex. cowboys singing songs for pleasure or lonely cowboys singing to their cattle ). Then throw in labor, either songs about work (as above) or about the labor movement. (You could involve union songs at this point.)

This song is about work & comes from the singing of Ricky Rackin, if he's looking in maybe he'll let on where it came from.

The Idle Wielder

I'm an idle wielder as many a man knows
I've no to eat & I've wore out my clothes
I'd stand in the bread lines if there were bread lines to hand
But there's nobody cares if I fall or stand

I'm an idle wielder God knows I've tried hard
You can find me each morning at the gates of the yard
There ain't no work for you lad, sir, I'm a wielder to trade
I helped build the best ships the Clyde ever made

Work harder they told us to meet the deadline
Six nights & a Sunday we'll pay double time
So I worked & I burned my hands blistered & sore
We met the deadline we built the Q4

Now when I was a young lad my heart swelled with pride
To think I helped build the best ships that were made on the Clyde
A wielder had status when there was wielding required
Now the wielding's all done & the wielder's been fired

HTML line breaks added. -JoeClone, 27-Jul-01.

Subject: Work Songs & Labor Movement
From: GaryD
Date: 12 Oct 97 - 04:40 PM

I was exploring Slavery Thread a while back & got to thinking about other forms of slavery (some self imposed)..thought it might be fun to start discussion of work songs & labor songs. I love the sea songs as some of you may have noted, but other work songs like Paddy working on the railway are just as interesting. I had almost been convinced that work songs like that had disappeared from the scenee when I heard a song on MN Public Radio about something like coding software.done in the shout song style..Anybody know it, or care to jump in?