Woody Guthrie (1912 - 1967) was the most important American folk music artist of the first half of the 20th century. Coming out of Oklahoma, Guthrie had firsthand knowledge of the Dust Bowl diaspora chronicled in John Steinbeck's novel The Grapes of Wrath. In fact, Guthrie wrote his own version of the story in a song called "Tom Joad." By the time he gained recognition in the '40s, Guthrie had written hundreds of songs, many of which remain folk standards to this day. He was also an author (Bound for Glory) and a newspaper columnist. Guthrie made some recordings for RCA in 1940, but much of his work was issued on the small Folkways label.
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Union Maid (Excerpt) Lyrics
Woody Guthrie
UNION MAID
(Woody Guthrie)
There once was a union maid
Who never was afraid
Of goons and ginks and company finks
And deputy sheriffs who made the raids
She went to the union hall
When a meeting it was called,
And when the Legion boys came 'round
She always stood her ground.
cho: Oh, you can't scare me, I'm sticking to the union,
I'm sticking to the union,I'm sticking to the union
Oh, you can't scare me, I'm sticking to the union,
I'm sticking to the union till theday I die.
This union maid was wise
To the tricks of company spies,
She couldn't be fooled by a company stool
She'd always organize the guys
She always got her way
When she struck for better pay.
She'd show her card to the national guard
And this is what she'd say.
You gals who want to be free
Just take a little tip from me:
Get you a man who's a union man
And join the Ladies' Auxiliary*
Married life ain't hard
When you got a union card,
And a union man has a happy life
When he's got a union wife.
*in the late eighty's wave of revisionism, this became "And fight
together for liberty". Woody never said that. RG
Note: Oddly, this is a parody (political) of a parody (bawdy) of
a pop song of the mid-1800s.RG
Copyright Ludlow Music, Inc.
@union @work @political
filename[ UNIONMD
play.exe REDWNG
RG
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