"Part of the Union" is a song by

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

band Strawbs, featured on their 1973 album '' Bursting at the Seams'' and was the band's most successful single, peaking at No. 2 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. It also reached No. 10 in the

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are bas ...

Background

The song was included on the album '' Bursting at the Seams'' but is not considered typical of the songs on that album. Indeed, the track was originally recorded without a contribution by band leader

Dave Cousins Dave Cousins (born David Joseph Hindson; 7 January 1945) is an English musician who has been the leader, singer and most-active songwriter of Strawbs since 1967. Career Cousins is a founder member of the Strawbs, which started out as the S ...

and was to be released under the name of "The Brothers". It demonstrates the different, more commercial direction the writing partnership of Richard Hudson and

John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and naval officer. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. He ...

was taking within the band. The song (especially its chorus "You don't get me I'm part of the Union") quickly became popular as an unofficial anthem of the

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

movement. Subsequently, the Strawbs have confirmed that the song was written with genuine celebratory intent, in support of the unions. The song resurfaced on the UK television advertisement for

insurance company Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...

Norwich Union Norwich Union was the name of insurance company Aviva's British arm before June 2009. It was originally established in 1797. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. On 29 April 2008, Aviva ...

in 1998. The

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

track "Will You Go" is an arrangement of the Irish

folk song Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be c ...

Wild Mountain Thyme "Wild Mountain Thyme" (also known as "Purple Heather" and "Will Ye Go, Lassie, Go?") is a Scottish/Irish folk song. The lyrics and melody are a variant of the song "The Braes of Balquhither" by Scottish poet Robert Tannahill (1774–1810) and S ...

" written by Belfast musician Francis McPeake, dating back to the repertoire of The Strawberry Hill Boys (the original name of Strawbs) The song is played at the end of

Philadelphia Union The Philadelphia Union are an American professional soccer club based in Chester, Pennsylvania. The Union compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Founded on February 28, 2008, the club began playing in 201 ...

home games.

''Top of the Pops''

In the band's appearance on BBC's ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

'', keyboardist

Blue Weaver Derek John "Blue" Weaver (born 11 March 1947) is a Welsh rock keyboardist, session musician, songwriter and record producer. Career Weaver's career as a musician began as a co-founding member of 1960s Welsh rock band Amen Corner and its succ ...

appeared with both piano and pedal harmonium and drummer Richard Hudson appeared with a marching bass drum emblazoned with the words "The Associated Union of Strawbs Workers".

Charts

Other recordings

The original "Brothers" recording can be found on the box set ''

A Taste of Strawbs ''A Taste of Strawbs'' is a box-set album by Strawbs. Instead of being a "best of" album, the compilers (Dave Cousins and Dick Greener) have attempted to present alternative versions of some well-known songs plus some previously unreleased mat ...

''. Cockerel Chorus (of "Nice One Cyril" fame) also recorded the song for inclusion on their 1973 ''Party Sing-a-long'' album. Recorded by The Hindle Strikers with T.B.E. in 1984 on the Catch 22 label (CTT001A) – originally they recorded it on cassette unaware that DJs required it on vinyl to play it on the radio. From 2007 to 2016 the song has been included as a standard part of the Strawbs' live set and was included in their live DVD ''The Strawbs – Lay Down With The Strawbs'', filmed and recorded live at The Robin 2 in

Bilston Bilston is a market town, ward, and civil parish located in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. It is close to the borders of Sandwell and Walsall. The nearest towns are Darlaston, Wednesbury, and Willenhall. Historically in Staffordshi ...

, UK on 5 March 2006.

Personnel

–

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

* Dave Lambert – backing vocals, electric guitar *

–

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

* Richard Hudson – backing vocals,

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

–

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

harmonium The pump organ is a type of free-reed organ that generates sound as air flows past a vibrating piece of thin metal in a frame. The piece of metal is called a reed. Specific types of pump organ include the reed organ, harmonium, and melodeon. T ...

References

Notes

Other sources

"Part of the Union"
at Strawbsweb official site
"Part of the Union"
– covers at Strawbsweb official site *

External links

"Part of the Union"
– lyrics at Strawbsweb official site
"Will You Go"
– lyrics at Strawbsweb official site * {{DEFAULTSORT:Part Of The Union 1973 singles Strawbs songs 1973 songs Trade union songs Songs written by John Ford (musician) Songs written by Richard Hudson (musician)