Talkin Union Blues (1941); now as then

excerpt

You may be down and out, but you ain’t beatenYou can pass out a leaflet and call a meetin’Talk it over, speak your mindDecide to do somethin’ about it

...

Now, boys, you’ve come to the hardest timeThe boss will try to bust your picket lineHe’ll call out the police, the National GuardThey’ll tell you it’s a crime to have a union cardThey’ll raid your meetin’, they’ll hit you on the headThey’ll call every one of you a goddam redUnpatriotic, Japanese spies, sabotaging national defenseBut out at Ford, here’s what they foundAnd out at Vultee, here’s what they foundAnd out at Allis-Chalmers, here’s what they foundAnd down at Bethlehem, here’s what they foundThat if you don’t let red-baiting break you upAnd if you don’t let stool pigeons break you upAnd if you don’t let vigilantes break you upAnd if you don’t let race hatred break you upYou’ll win, What I mean, take it easy, but take it

Lyrics from Milwaukee DSA.

You can listen/download mp3 of full album from either of these links:

• Old Time Blues (says the almanac singers were against joining WW2 until Pearl Harbor....)
• Internet Archive