Solidarity Forever
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"Solidarity Forever", written by
Ralph Chaplin Ralph Hosea Chaplin (1887–1961) was an American writer, artist and labor activist. At the age of seven, he saw a worker shot dead during the Pullman Strike in Chicago, Illinois. He had moved with his family from Ames, Kansas to Chicago in ...
in 1915, is a popular
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 ( ...
anthem. It is sung to the tune of "
John Brown's Body "John Brown's Body" (originally known as "John Brown's Song") is a United States marching song about the abolitionist John Brown. The song was popular in the Union during the American Civil War. The tune arose out of the folk hymn tradition of t ...
" and "
The Battle Hymn of the Republic The "Battle Hymn of the Republic", also known as "Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory" or "Glory, Glory Hallelujah" outside of the United States, is a popular American patriotic song written by the abolitionist writer Julia Ward Howe. Howe wrote her l ...
". Although it was written as a song for the
Industrial Workers of the World The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), members of which are commonly termed "Wobblies", is an international labor union that was founded in Chicago in 1905. The origin of the nickname "Wobblies" is uncertain. IWW ideology combines genera ...
(IWW), other union movements, such as the
AFL–CIO The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO) is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 12 million ac ...
, have adopted the song as their own. The song has been performed by musicians such as
Utah Phillips Bruce Duncan "Utah" Phillips (May 15, 1935 – May 23, 2008)
, KVMR, Nevada City, California, May 24, 2008. Retrieved 24 May 2008 ...
,
Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American folk singer and social activist. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, Seeger also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers, notably ...
,
Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...
, and was redone by Emcee Lynx and
The Nightwatchman The Nightwatchman is the solo project of American musician Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine, Street Sweeper Social Club and former Audioslave). Morello began performing as the Nightwatchman in 2003 as an outlet for his political views whil ...
. It is still commonly sung at union meetings and rallies in the
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,
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and
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, and has also been sung at conferences of the
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and the Canadian
New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * t ...
. This may have also inspired the hymn of the
consumer cooperative A consumers' co-operative is an enterprise owned by consumers and managed democratically and that aims at fulfilling the needs and aspirations of its members. Such co-operatives operate within the market system, independently of the state, as a f ...
movement, " The Battle Hymn of Cooperation", which is sung to the same tune. It has been translated into several other languages, including French,
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,
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,
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, Swahili and
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.


Lyrics


Composition

Ralph Chaplin Ralph Hosea Chaplin (1887–1961) was an American writer, artist and labor activist. At the age of seven, he saw a worker shot dead during the Pullman Strike in Chicago, Illinois. He had moved with his family from Ames, Kansas to Chicago in ...
began writing "Solidarity Forever" in 1913, while he was journalist covering the Paint Creek–Cabin Creek strike of 1912 in
Kanawha County, West Virginia Kanawha County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 180,745, making it West Virginia's most populous county. The county seat is Charleston, which is also the state capital. Kanawha Coun ...
, having been inspired by the resolve and high spirits of the striking miners and their families who had endured the violent strike (which killed around 50 people on both sides) and had been living for a year in tents. He completed the song on January 15, 1915, in Chicago, on the date of a hunger demonstration. Chaplin was a dedicated
Wobbly The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), members of which are commonly termed "Wobblies", is an international labor union that was founded in Chicago in 1905. The origin of the nickname "Wobblies" is uncertain. IWW ideology combines general ...
, a writer at the time for ''Solidarity'', the official IWW publication in the eastern United States, and a cartoonist for the organization. He shared the analysis of the IWW, embodied in its famed "Preamble", printed inside the front cover of every ''
Little Red Songbook 180px, The ''Little Red Songbook'' Since the founding of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) songs have played a large part in spreading the message of the One Big Union. The songs are preserved in the ''Little Red Songbook''. Definition ...
''. The Preamble begins with a classic statement of a two-class analysis of
capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for Profit (economics), profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, pric ...
: "The
working class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colou ...
and the employing class have nothing in common." The
class struggle Class conflict, also referred to as class struggle and class warfare, is the political tension and economic antagonism that exists in society because of socio-economic competition among the social classes or between rich and poor. The forms ...
will continue until the victory of the working class: "Between these two classes a
struggle Struggle may refer to: Film and TV * ''Struggle'' (2003 film), an Austrian film * Struggle (2013 film) * ''Struggle'' (TV series), 2007 Chinese TV series Music * ''Struggle'' (Nonpoint album), 1999 release * Struggle (Woody Guthrie album), 1 ...
must go on until the workers of the world organize as a class, take possession of the earth and the machinery of production, and abolish the wage system." The Preamble denounces
trade unions 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 Employee ben ...
as incapable of coping with the power of the employing class. By negotiating contracts, the Preamble states, trade unions mislead workers by giving the impression that workers have interests in common with employers. The Preamble calls for workers to build an organization of all "members in any one industry, or in all industries". Although that sounds a lot like the
industrial unionism Industrial unionism is a trade union organizing method through which all workers in the same industry are organized into the same union, regardless of skill or trade, thus giving workers in one industry, or in all industries, more leverage in ...
developed by the
Congress of Industrial Organizations The Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) was a federation of unions that organized workers in industrial unions in the United States and Canada from 1935 to 1955. Originally created in 1935 as a committee within the American Federation of ...
, the IWW would oppose
John L. Lewis John Llewellyn Lewis (February 12, 1880 – June 11, 1969) was an American leader of organized labor who served as president of the United Mine Workers of America (UMW) from 1920 to 1960. A major player in the history of coal mining, he was the d ...
' campaign to split from the
American Federation of Labor The American Federation of Labor (A.F. of L.) was a national federation of labor unions in the United States that continues today as the AFL-CIO. It was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions eager to provide mutu ...
and organize industrial unions in the 1930s. The Preamble explains, "Instead of the conservative motto, 'A fair day's wage for a fair day's work,' we must inscribe on our banner the revolutionary watchword, 'Abolition of the wage system.' The IWW embraced
syndicalism Syndicalism is a Revolutionary politics, revolutionary current within the Left-wing politics, left-wing of the Labour movement, labor movement that seeks to unionize workers Industrial unionism, according to industry and advance their demands t ...
, and opposed participation in electoral politics: "by organizing industrially we are forming the structure of the
new society within the shell of the old Prefigurative politics are the modes of organization and social relationships that strive to reflect the future society being sought by the group. According to Carl Boggs, who coined the term, the desire is to embody "within the ongoing political p ...
". The outlook of the Preamble is embodied in "Solidarity Forever", which enunciates several elements of the IWW's analysis. The third stanza ("It is we who plowed the prairies") asserts the primacy of the role of workers in creating value. This is echoed in stanzas four and five, which provide ethical justification for the workers' claim to "all the world." The second stanza ("Is there aught we hold in common with the greedy parasite") assumes the two antagonistic classes described in the Preamble. The first and fifth stanzas provide the strategy for labor: union solidarity. And the sixth stanza projects the
utopian A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia'', describing a fictional island society ...
outcome, a new world brought to birth "from the ashes of the old". Chaplin was not pleased with the widespread popularity of "Solidarity Forever" in the labor movement. Late in his life, after he had become a voice opposing (State)
Communists Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a so ...
in the labor movement, Chaplin wrote an article, "Why I wrote Solidarity Forever", in which he denounced the "not-so-needy, not-so-worthy, so-called 'industrial unions' spawned by an era of compulsory unionism". He wrote that among
Wobblies The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), members of which are commonly termed "Wobblies", is an international labor union that was founded in Chicago in 1905. The origin of the nickname "Wobblies" is uncertain. IWW ideology combines general ...
"there is no one who does not look with a rather jaundiced eye upon the 'success' of 'Solidarity Forever.' "I didn't write 'Solidarity Forever' for ambitious politicians or for job-hungry labor
fakirs Fakir ( ar, فقیر, translit=faḳīr or ''faqīr'') is an Islamic term traditionally used for Sufi Muslim ascetics who renounce their worldly possessions and dedicate their lives to the worship of God. They do not necessarily renounce all ...
seeking a ride on the gravy train.… All of us deeply resent seeing a song that was uniquely our own used as a singing commercial for the soft-boiled type of post-
Wagner Act The National Labor Relations Act of 1935, also known as the Wagner Act, is a foundational statute of United States labor law that guarantees the right of private sector employees to organize into trade unions, engage in collective bargaining, and ...
industrial unionism that uses million-dollar slush funds to persuade their congressional office boys to do chores for them." He added, "I contend also that when the labor movement ceases to be a Cause and becomes a business, the end product can hardly be called progress." Despite Chaplin's misgivings, "Solidarity Forever" has retained a general appeal for the wider labor movement because of the continued applicability of its core message. Some performers do not sing all six stanzas of "Solidarity Forever," typically dropping verses two ("Is there aught we hold in common with the greedy parasite") and four ("All the world that's owned by idle drones is ours and ours alone"), thus leaving out the most radical material.


Modern additions

Since the 1970s women have added verses to "Solidarity Forever" to reflect their concerns as union members. One popular set of stanzas is: :We're the women of the union and we sure know how to fight. :We'll fight for women's issues and we'll fight for women's rights. :A woman's work is never done from morning until night. :Women make the union strong! :(Chorus) :It is we who wash the dishes, scrub the floors and clean the dirt, :Feed the kids and send them off to school—and then we go to work, :Where we work for half men's wages for a boss who likes to flirt. :But the union makes us strong! :(Chorus) A variation from Canada goes as follows: :We're the women of the union in the forefront of the fight, :We fight for women's issues, we fight for women's rights, :We're prepared to fight for freedom, we're prepared to stand our ground, :Women make the union strong. :(Chorus) :Through our sisters and our brothers, we can make our union strong, :For respect and equal value we have done without too long, :We no longer have to tolerate injustices and wrongs, :For the union makes us strong. :(Chorus) :When racism in all of us is finally out and gone, :Then the union movement will be twice as powerful and strong, :For equality for everyone will move the cause along, :For the union makes us strong. :(Chorus) The centennial edition of the Little Red Songbook includes these two new verses credited to Steve Suffet: :They say our day is over; they say our time is through, :They say you need no union if your collar isn't blue, :Well that is just another lie the boss is telling you, :For the Union makes us strong! :(Chorus) :They divide us by our color; they divide us by our tongue, :They divide us men and women; they divide us old and young, :But they'll tremble at our voices, when they hear these verses sung, :For the Union makes us strong! :(Chorus) Pete Seeger's adaptation of the song removes the fourth verse and rewrites the final verse as: :In our hands is placed a power greater than their hoarded gold :Greater than the might of atoms, magnified a thousand fold, :We can bring to birth a new world from the ashes of the old, :For the union makes us strong. :(Chorus)


In popular culture

"Solidarity Forever" is featured in the 2014 film ''
Pride Pride is defined by Merriam-Webster as "reasonable self-esteem" or "confidence and satisfaction in oneself". A healthy amount of pride is good, however, pride sometimes is used interchangeably with "conceit" or "arrogance" (among other words) wh ...
'' in which London organisation
Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM) was an alliance of lesbians and gay men who supported the National Union of Mineworkers during the year-long strike of 1984–1985. By the end of the strike, eleven LGSM groups had emerged in the UK ...
collect funds to support the
miner A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face; cutting, blasting, ...
s of a
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village during the
UK miners' strike (1984–85) The miners' strike of 1984–1985 was a major industrial action within the British coal industry in an attempt to prevent colliery closures. It was led by Arthur Scargill of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) against the National Coal Boar ...
.


See also

*
Industrial Workers of the World The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), members of which are commonly termed "Wobblies", is an international labor union that was founded in Chicago in 1905. The origin of the nickname "Wobblies" is uncertain. IWW ideology combines genera ...
*
Little Red Songbook 180px, The ''Little Red Songbook'' Since the founding of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) songs have played a large part in spreading the message of the One Big Union. The songs are preserved in the ''Little Red Songbook''. Definition ...
*
Union organizer A union organizer (or union organiser in Commonwealth spelling) is a specific type of trade union member (often elected) or an appointed union official. A majority of unions appoint rather than elect their organizers. In some unions, the orga ...


Notes


References

* ''I.W.W. Songs: To Fan the Flames of Discontent'', a facsimile reprint of the 19th edition (1923) of the ''Little Red Song Book'' (Chicago: Charles H. Kerr Publishing Co., 2003). * ''Songs of the Workers To Fan the Flames of Discontent: The Little Red Songbook'', Limited Centenary Concert Edition (IWW, June 2005). * Ralph Chaplin, ''Wobbly: The Rough-and-Tumble Story of an American Radical'' (The University of Chicago Press, 1948), ch. 15, pp. 162–171. * Ralph Chaplin, "Confessions of a Radical," two-part article in ''Empire Magazine'' of the ''Denver Post'', Feb. 17, 1957, pp. 12–13, and Feb. 24, 1957, pp. 10–11. * Ralph Chaplin, "Why I Wrote Solidarity Forever," ''American West'', vol. 5, no. 1 (January 1968), 18–27, 73. * ''
Rise Up Singing ''Rise Up Singing'' is a popular folk music fake book containing chords, lyrics, and sources. There are 1200 songs in the 2004 edition. The book does not include notation of the songs' melodies (with the exception of the two sections on roun ...
'' page 218. Includes
United Farm Workers The United Farm Workers of America, or more commonly just United Farm Workers (UFW), is a labor union for farmworkers in the United States. It originated from the merger of two workers' rights organizations, the Agricultural Workers Organizing ...
lyrics in Spanish.


External links


Solidarity Forever
Pete Seger
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* Pete Segerbr>Solidarity Forever
Solidarity Forever - Hudson Valley Area Labor Federation - March 2011 YouTube {{Authority control 1915 songs Industrial Workers of the World culture Labor relations Trade union songs