stand, and unfold yourself!

florence reece: a badass in gingham. that song will - and should - fuck you up.

The 10 best protest songs - in pictures | Culture | The Observer

Florence Reece

Which Side Are You On? (1931)

Reece was the wife of a union organiser during a bloody miners’ strike in Harlan County, Kentucky. After harassment by the mine owners, she dashed off this stark, stern call to arms for the resurgent union movement. Like all early protest songs, it borrowed an old melody, in this case the Baptist hymn “Lay the Lily Low”, the better to spread among the crowds. First recorded by Pete Seeger’s band the Almanacs 10 years later, it has since been rewritten for events ranging from the Mississippi Freedom Rides to the 1984-85 miners’ strike

(Click here to hear Reece’s version)

from ontologicalterrorist

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