I think that calls for a song.
-Joe Offer-

HOLD THE LINE
words by Lee Hays
Music by Pete Seeger (1949)
© 1959 (renewed) by Sanga Music, Inc.

Let me tell you the story of a line that was held,
And may brave men and women whose courage we know well,
How we held the line at Peekskill on that long September day!
We will hold the line forever till the people have their way/

Chorus (after each verse):
Hold the Line!
Hold the Line!
As we held the line at Peekskill
We will hold it everywhere
Hold the Line!
Hold the Line!
We will hold the line forever
Till there’s freedom everywhere!

There was music, there was singing, people listened everywhere;
The people they were smiling, so happy to be there ---
While on the road behind us, the fascists waited there,
Their curses could not drown out the music in the air.

The grounds were all surrounded by a band of gallant men,
Shoulder to shoulder, no fascist could get in,
The music of the people was heard for miles around,
Well guarded by the workers, their courage made us proud.

When the music was all over, we started to go home,
We did not know the trouble and the pain that was to come,
We got into our buses and drove out through the gate,
And saw the gangster police, their faces filled with hate.

Then without any warning the rocks began to come,
The cops and troopers laughed to see the damage that was done,
They ran us through a gauntlet, to their everlasting shame,
And the cowards that attacked us, damnation to their name.

All across the nation the people heard the tale,
And marvelled at the concert, and knew we had not failed,
We shed our blood at Peekskill, and suffered many a pain,
But we beat back the fascists and we’ll beat them back again!

(From Where Have All the Flowers Gone, by Pete Seeger, © 1993)
Pete says one of the first Weavers records was this 78 rpm single, a ballad recounting the Ku Klux Klan-inspired attack on an outdoor concert by Paul Robeson in September, 1949.

MIDI file: HOLDTH~1.MID

Timebase: 192

Name: Hold the Line
Text: By Lee Hays and Pete Seeger, 1949
Copyright: Copyright © 1959 (renewed) by Sanga Music, Inc.
TimeSig: 2/2 24 8
Start
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End

This program is worth the effort of learning it.

To download the March 10 MIDItext 98 software and get instructions on how to use it click here

ABC format:

X:1
T:Hold the Line
M:2/2
Q:1/4=120
K:C
E2F2G4|G2G2c2C2|C2C2F2G2|F2E2D4|-D2E2FFF2|
F2F2FF3|-F2F2EE3|E2E2E4|E2G2A3A|A2A2A2A2|
B2A2G3A|G2E2D4|E2F2G3G|G2G2cC3|C2C2F2F2|E2D2C4|
E2GA5|-A8|B8|-B2AG5|-G8|E8|-E2F2G3G|G2G2c2G2|
G2E2D2D2|D2ED5|E2GA5|-A8|B8|-B2AG5|-G8|E8|
-E2F2G3G|G2G2cC3|C2C2F4|F4E4|D4C4|-C15/2||