Traditional & Folk Songs with lyrics, midis & Mp3
Union Maid

Union Maid

Union Maid
(Woody Guthrie)

There once was a union maid
Who never was afraid
Of goons and ginks and company finks
And deputy sheriffs who made the raids
She went to the union hall
When a meeting it was called,
And when the Legion boys came 'round
She always stood her ground.

cho: Oh, you can't scare me, I'm sticking to the union,
     I'm sticking to the union,I'm sticking to the union
     Oh, you can't scare me, I'm sticking to the union,
     I'm sticking to the union till theday I die.

This union maid was wise
To the tricks of company spies,
She couldn't be fooled by a company stool
She'd always organize the guys
She always got her way
When she struck for better pay.
She'd show her card to the national guard
And this is what she'd say.

You gals who want to be free
Just take a little tip from me:
Get you a man who's a union man
And join the Ladies' Auxiliary*
Married life ain't hard
When you got a union card,
And a union man has a happy life
When he's got a union wife.

*in the late eighty's wave of revisionism, this became "And fight
     together for liberty". Woody never said that. RG
Note: Oddly, this is a parody (political) of a parody (bawdy) of
     a pop song of the mid-1800s.RG

Note to RG: Woody didn't make up the vile verse about the Ladies
Auxiliary - I understand Lee Hays did. JB

Note to JB: I never heard that: Woody never seemed to feel that
Ladies' Auxiliaries were demeaning to women (though they might be
faintly amusing). Remember, this was a product of an era in which
the working woman was somewhat of a freak, and union activism was
almost entirely a male function. RG

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