|
|||||||||||
Lyr Add: Seige of Union Street (Alistair Hulett) Related threads: Lyr Req: Blue Murder (Alistair Hulett) (17) alastair hulet/ Alistair Hulett - info? (35) Lyr Req: Don't Sign Up for War (Alistair Hulett) (15) Obit: Alistair Hulett (1951-2010) (82) alistair hulett at irvine (1) Lyr Req: Among Proddy Dogs and Papes (A Hulett) (3) review: Alistair Hulett and Jimmy Ross (2) Lyr Req: He Fades Away (Alistair Hulett) (3)
|
Share Thread
|
Subject: Lyr Add: SIEGE OF UNION STREET (Alistair Hulett) From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 20 Feb 09 - 10:54 AM THE SIEGE OF UNION STREET (words & music by Alistair Hulett) words taken from 'The Cold Grey Light of Dawn' by Alistair Hulett & Dave Swarbrick Musikfolk Ltd, 1997. The Unemployed Workers Union was formed in Melbourne during the Great Depression to fight evictions by heartless landlords of destitute families for non-payment of rent. A Sydney branch soon followed and the UWU drew thousands into it's ranks. Matters came to a head in Union Street in the inner city suburb of Erskinville in Sydney, when over a thousand militants fought a pitched battle with police that lasted several days. The tenants were a 'war widow' and her children, so emotions were running high and the struggle received much media coverage The Communist Party was deeply committed to supporting the UWU and the police had assistance from the covert right wing paramilitary group identified by D.H. Lawrence in his novel "Kangaroo." Casualties on both sides were high but the issue was finally resolved when the Labor State Premier, Jack Lang, introduced legislation to protect the unemployed from being thrown out of their homes. Jim Munroe, a founding member of the UWU is the source of the material on which much of this song is based. You should have seen us down at Erko Fourteenth August, Saturday night To Newtown, Stanmore, Enmore and Petersham Calls went out 'Workers unite!' We built a bloody great wall With planks and boards full seven foot tall We didn't mind the howling wind and sleet When we stood around the fire at Union Street The man from the shop said put it on tick The kids came round with bottles and bricks There was Irish stew and home-made lemonade They were grand old days on the barricade I never thought I would join a party Carry a card or see things red The sight of bare foot children crying Out on the pavement turned my head There old man's over in France Flapping like a rag on a barbed wire fence Their Mum does what she can to make ends meet And she's down at the siege of Union Street The cops came down and they came down hard They must have numbered five hundred strong They called us reds and they cracked our heads To teach us poor sinners right from wrong I learned a lesson that night It's all out war when you stand and fight I saw those brisk young coppers on their beat Behave like thugs in Union Street Sunshine danced on the broken glass It shone like diamonds as morning broke The cops were back by the railroad track And the streets were filled with working folk They'd bashed us bloody and raw But it forced Jack Lang to change the law Now the landlords have to cop it sweet And the Red Flag flies over Union Street The man from the shop gave out licorice sticks To the kids who cleaned up the bottles and bricks Down the years those memories never fade Of the grand old days on the barricade |
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Seige of Union Street (Alistair Hulett) From: Jim Dixon Date: 21 Feb 09 - 04:39 PM Alistair Hulett has generously made available an mp3 file of the entire song THE SIEGE OF UNION STREET on his web site. (Click here to play.) |
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Seige of Union Street (Alistair Hulett) From: freda underhill Date: 29 Jan 10 - 05:32 PM I used to live in that street, and it was full of council tenants and single parents. it's great to hear the ong again, thanks Sandra and Jim. |
Share Thread: |
Subject: | Help |
From: | |
Preview Automatic Linebreaks Make a link ("blue clicky") |