Most likely written by Harry \u201cHaywire\u201d Mclintock, this is a popular Wobbly (IWW) song. As often with the Wobblies the tune was taken from a protestant hymn tune, in this case \u201cRevive Us Again\u201d. It was published in the IWW\u2019s little red Songbook in 1908 and the Spokane branch adopted it as their anthem, their successes in the Free Speech Fights of 1909 helped give it wider popularity. The tune tells a sarcastic tale of the moralistic complaints a hobo might hear in their travels.<\/p>\n
Michael Hotkowski<\/p>\n
Why don’t you work like other folks do?
\nHow can I get a job when you’re holding down two?<\/p>\n
Refrain: Oh, why don’t you save all the money you earn? Whenever I get all the money I earn, Oh, I like my boss, he’s a good friend of mine, I went to a house and I knocked on the door; I went to that house and I asked for some bread She pulls out a whistle and I run for my life! I went to a bar* and asked for a drink Come all you workers and listen to me * When home at the Griswold Inn this line is \u201cI went to the Griz\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Most likely written by Harry \u201cHaywire\u201d Mclintock, this is a popular Wobbly (IWW) song. As often with the Wobblies the tune was taken from a protestant hymn tune, in this case \u201cRevive Us Again\u201d. It was published in the IWW\u2019s little red Songbook in 1908 and the Spokane branch adopted it as their anthem, their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":21,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-5853","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thejovialcrew.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5853","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thejovialcrew.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thejovialcrew.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thejovialcrew.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thejovialcrew.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5853"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thejovialcrew.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5853\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5854,"href":"https:\/\/thejovialcrew.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5853\/revisions\/5854"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thejovialcrew.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/21"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thejovialcrew.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nHallelujah, I’m a bum,<\/em>
\nHallelujah, bum again,<\/em>
\nHallelujah, give us a handout<\/em>
\nTo revive us again.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nIf I didn’t eat, I’d have money to burn.<\/p>\n
\nThe boss will be broke, and to work he must turn.<\/p>\n
\nThat’s why I am starving out on the bread line.<\/p>\n
\nThe lady comes out and says, “You’ve been here before”<\/p>\n
\nThe lady said \u201cScram bum the baker is dead!\u201d<\/p>\n
\nWell, wouldn’t you know, it’s the constable’s wife<\/p>\n
\nThey gave me a glass and they showed me the sink<\/p>\n
\nLet’s organize and we all will be free!.<\/p>\n