Greetings, brothers and sisters, and welcome to our Labor Film Fest.
(Okay, it's only one film, and a pretty short one at that. Feel free to add links to more in the comments, especially if anyone knows where to find the old UMW classics like "The Black Dust.")
The song itself has a bit of a bumpy history. I wrote and cut it in late July of 2005, when the Teamsters and SEIU announced they were separating from the AFL-CIO. While pundits and labor leaders pondered what the split might mean for both unions and the parent organizations, my first thought on hearing the news was, "Oh, this would break poor Joe Hill's heart." Tuned the Silvertone to open fifths and the rest just poured out.
The recording got lost in other concerns that year (we did have some notable events in New Orleans the next month), but finally got tucked into the record "Dark Matters," a perfect fit. Since then, I've dragged it out every September to honor Labor's great poet.
When this song was written, it wasn't clear whether or not labor unions would continue to have much influence over public affairs, whether they would even survive. Thanks to the idiocy of certain governors and GOP legislators, the sleeping giant of America's unions has reawakened and promises to be a force to be reckoned with next year and in elections to come.
Maybe, just maybe. . .
. . . somewhere, Joe Hill is starting to smile again.
(Special thanks to DonkeyHotey for the image that falls after the credits.)