Joan Baez - Joe Hill
Joan Baez is singing at the Operation Ceasefire Concert in Washington DC on Sept. 24, 2005.
This song, also called "I Dreamed I Saw Joe Hill Last Night" was published as a poem by Alfred Hayes in 1930. In 1936 Earl Robinson added the music.
Here's a link to Crashing Vor's addition to the legend of Joe Hill in song.
Joe Hill Cryin'
He turned me on to this in the comments discussing "The Ghost Of Tom Joad". It's an mp3 file.
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Crashing Vor brings Joe Hill into the present by invoking his dream of Unionizing and lamenting the decline in Union membership and power today. He says, "That ain't rain boys, that's Joe Hill cryin'."
The strongest part of the lyric is the bridge where he sings.
You can blame the robots working on a factory floor.
Blame the folks in India taking all your jobs offshore.
You can blame the local boys who love their Walmart store.
Me, I blame the money men trying to squeeze a dollar more.
He performs the song in the folk tradition with two acoustic guitars and simple harmonies. You can almost see him with his harp on a rack, playing the breaks.
All thanks to Crashing Vor for this great song.
I hope to cover Joe Hill more thoroughly in the future. Crashing Vor recommended Stegner's Joe Hill. I'll add a few links too.
"I Dreamed I Saw Joe Hill Last Night" lyrics
wikipedia
Joe's Songs
The Joe Hill Project
Please list more Joe Hill resources, songs, and stories in the comments.
Thanks,
Hairy Larry