Socialist and Labor Songs - (Charles H. Kerr Library) by Elizabeth Morgan (Paperback)

About the Book

"Seventy-seven songs--with words and sheet music--of solidarity, revolt, humor, and revolution. Compiled from several generations in America and from around the world, the songs and sheet music in this compendium were originally written in English, Danish, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian and Yiddish. From Industrial Workers of the World anthems such as "The Preacher and the Slave" to Lenin's favorite 1905 revolutionary anthem "Whirlwinds of Danger," many of the world's greatest radical songwriters are anthologized herein: Edith Berkowitz, Bertolt Brecht, Ralph Chaplin, James Connolly, Havelock Ellis, Emily Fine, Arturo Giovaniti, Joe Hill, Langston Hughes, William Morris, James Oppenheim, Teresina Rowell, Anna Garlin Spencer, Maurice Sugar-and dozens more. Old favorites and hidden gems, to once again energize and accompany picket lines, demonstrations, meetings, sit-ins, marches, and May Day parades"--Page 4 of cover.

Book Synopsis

Seventy-seven songs--with words and sheet music--of solidarity, revolt, humor, and revolution. Compiled from several generations in America, and from around the world, they were originally written in English, Danish, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian, and Yiddish.

From IWW anthems such as "The Preacher and the Slave" to Lenin's favorite 1905 revolutionary anthem "Whirlwinds of Danger," many works by the world's greatest radical songwriters are anthologized herein: Edith Berkowitz, Bertolt Brecht, Ralph Chaplin, James Connolly, Havelock Ellis, Emily Fine, Arturo Giovannitti, Joe Hill, Langston Hughes, William Morris, James Oppenheim, Teresina Rowell, Anna Garlin Spencer, Maurice Sugar--and dozens more.

Old favorites and hidden gems, to once again energize and accompany picket lines, demonstrations, meetings, sit-ins, marches, and May Day parades.

Review Quotes

"I've always known our political and social movements as singing movements, and have been continually astonished at the scope and variety of our people's music... These songs are like endangered species that have been restored to the present, to the land of the living. They stuck up for us long ago during dark and troubled times. Our times are dark and troubled, too, but our old songs are still here with us to see us through. Sing away!"
--Utah Phillips

About the Author

Elizabeth Morgan is a longtime socialist activist who ran for Congress in Ohio on the Socialist ticket. She is a progressive educator and founder of the Arthur Morgan School, a progressive boarding school for grades seven through nine in Burnsville, North Carolina. She lives in Chicago. Utah Phillips was a labor organizer, folk singer, storyteller, and poet who often promoted the Industrial Workers of the World in his music, actions, and words.