Union Songs
The Ballad of Harry Bridges
A song by Lee Hays, Millard Lampell and Pete Seeger ©1966 by Stormking Music Inc
Let me tell you of a sailor, Harry Bridges is his name,
An honest union leader who the bosses tried to frame.
He left home in Australia to sail the seas around,
He sailed across the ocean to land in 'Frisco town.
There was only a company union, the bosses had their way.
A worker had to stand in line for a lousy dollar a day.
When up spoke Harry Bridges, "Us workers got to get wise,
Our wives and kids will starve to death if we don't get organized."Oh, the FBI is worried, the bosses they are scared,
They can't deport six million men, they know.
And we're not going to let them send Harry over the sea,
We'll fight for Harry Bridges and build the C. I. O.They built a big bonfire by the Matson lines that night,
They threw their fink books in it and they said, "We're gonna fight!
You've got to pay a livin' wage or we're gonna take a walk."
They told it to the bosses, but the bosses wouldn't talk.They said, "There's only one way left to get that contract signed!"
And all around the waterfront they threw their picket line.
They called it Bloody Thursday, the fifth day of July,
For a hundred men were wounded and two were left to die!Oh, the FBI is worried, the bosses they are scared,
They can't deport six million men, they know.
And we're not going to let them send Harry over the sea,
We'll fight for Harry Bridges and build the C. I. O.Now that was seven years ago, and in the time since then
Harry's organized thousands more and made them union men.
"We must try to bribe him", the shipping bosses said.
And if he won't accept a bribe, we'll say that he's a red!"The bosses brought a trial to deport him over the sea,
But the judge said, "He's an honest man, I got to set him free."
Then they brought another trial to frame him if they can,
But right by Harry Bridges stands every working man!Oh, the FBI is worried, the bosses they are scared,
They can't deport six million men, they know.
And we're not going to let them send Harry over the sea,
We'll fight for Harry Bridges and build the C. I. O.
Notes
Not many union leaders get songs written about them, but at least two were written about Harry Bridges, this one, and one by Woody Guthrie. The Ballad of Harry Bridges was written in 1942 by Lee Hays, Millard Lampell and Pete Seeger, all members of the "Almanac Singers"
In "Hard Hitting Songs For Hardhit People" Woody wrote:
" The trouble Harry Bridges had on the west coast took place while I was making various noises on the radio there in Los Angeles and, well, I just sort of thought they ought to be some kind of a little song wrote up about old Harry and the tough old human race for which he stands"For more about Harry Bridges read "The Life and Times of Harry Bridges" (1901 - 1990) by Grif Fariello on the Union Songs site.
union songs..........a selection by mark gregory