I.W.W. Songs

by Industrial Workers of the World

Songs of the Workers to Fan the Flames of Discontent Issued July, 1945 in Commemoration of the 40th Anniversary of the IWW
Hill, Joe, Ralph Chaplin, John Brill, John F Kendrick, GG Allen, James Connell, Eugene Pottier, JE Sinclair, Loren Roberts, Vera Moller, Pat Brennan, John E Nordquist, Richard Brazier, ES Nelson, William Whalen, T-Bone Slim, Walquist, Ethel Comer, E Nesbit, Gerald J Lively, WO Blee, Joe Foley, John Healy, Laura Payne Emerson, Covington Hall, Charles Ashleigh, Dublin Dan & An Unknown Proletarian (contributors)

Genres: Art, Music, History

68 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1945

About the author

The Industrial Workers of the World is an international union currently headquartered in Cincinnati. At its 1923 peak it claimed over 100,000 members in good standing & could marshal the support of many more. Membership declined dramatically after a 1924 split brought on by internal conflict. Today it's actively organizing & numbers about 2,000 worldwide. Membership doesn't require that one work in a represented workplace, nor does it exclude membership other unions.
The IWW contends that all workers should be united as a class & the wage system should be abolished. They may be best known for the Wobbly Shop model of workplace democracy, in which workers elect recallable delegates, & other norms of grassroots democracy (self-management) are implemented.
The IWW was founded in Chicago at a convention of 200 socialists, anarchists & radical trade unionists from all over the USA (notably the Western Federation of Miners) who were opposed to the policies of the American Federation of Labor (AFL). The
convention, which took place on 6/27/05, was then referred to as the "Industrial Congress" or the "Industrial Union Convention"—it would later be known as the 1st Annual Convention of the IWW. It's considered one of the most important events in the history of the labor movement. Its 1st organizers included Wm D. (Big Bill) Haywood, Daniel DeLeon, Eugene Victor Debs, Thomas J. Hagerty, Lucy Parsons, "Mother" Mary Harris Jones, Frank Bohn, Wm Trautmann, Vincent St John, Ralph Chaplin & many others. Notable members of the Industrial Workers of the World have included Helen Keller; Joe Hill; Ralph Chaplin; Tom Morello; Ricardo Flores Magon; James P. Cannon; James Connolly; Jim Larkin; Paul Mattick; David Dellinger; Elizabeth Gurley Flynn; Sam Dolgoff, Monty Miller; Indian Nationalist Lala Hardayal; Frank Little; ACLU founder Roger Nash Baldwin; Harry Bridges; Buddhist beat poet Gary Snyder; Australian poets Harry Hooton & Lesbia Harford; anthropologist David Graeber; graphic artist Carlos Cortez; counterculture icon Kenneth Rexroth; Surrealist Franklin Rosemont; Rosie Kane & Carolyn Leckie, former Members of the Scottish Parliament; Judi Bari; folk musicians Utah Phillips & David Rovics; mixed martial arts fighter Jeff Monson; Finnish folk music legend Hiski Salomaa; US Green Party politician James M. Branum; Teacher Saul Fleider; Catholic Workers Dorothy Day & Ammon Hennacy; nuclear engineer Susanna Johnson; and Noam Chomsky. The former lieutenant governor of Colorado, David C. Coates was a labor militant, & was present at the founding convention.

Reviews

[Larry Bassett · Rating 5 out of 5]

My edition of this little red union song book has a IWW union label and was printed at The Print Shop on Long Island where I worked with Riley Bostrom and Esther Pank in the 1980s. We were members of the Industrial Workers of the World, the One Big Union. For me this book is more nostalgia than anything. The small print used for the songs is hard on my eyes but it doesn't matter because I still know some of them by heart. The purpose of the book is "to fan the flames of discontent."

[Erik Graff · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the first edition of the Wobbly songbook which I ever purchased, and that from the IWW International Headquarters in Lincoln Park in Chicago. It was during high school and such older friends as I had made in the Social Science Society (Tri-S), Maine South's club for political malcontents, all seemed to know of it and its contents.

[Erik Graff · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've gone through several editions of the I.W.W. songbook since purchasing one from Fred Thompson at their old international headquarters in Chicago back in the sixties. This one, purchased while I was very active in Central American solidarity work, was likely obtained from Franklin and Penelope Rosement of Charles Kerr Publishing, the world's oldest, continually existing socialist publishing house.

[Erik Graff · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the second edition of the IWW songbook which I ever purchased, the first having been about two years before while still in high school. Amongst my friends, by 1970, knowing at least some of the lyrics was indicative of being 'in', really in, 'Solidarity Forever' being an especial group favorite. Most of us were 'New' Leftists of one sort or another, but our crowd included a couple of Old Leftists (mostly SP) as well, even a fan of Ayn Rand.

[Erik Graff · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have two reprints of this fortieth anniversary (of the Chicago founding of the Industrial Workers of the World in 1905) edition on the shelves, one from 3/1/74, the other from 7/1/80.

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lyrics for those interested in US labor history.