“Frisco Strike Saga” Sheet Music (pdf).
“Frisco Strike Saga” Karaoke (midi with lyrics).
Lyrics: Anonymous.
Tune: “Home on the Range.”
’Twas the month of July; in the hot sun, we did fry
On the docks of old Frisco Bay.
We were rolling our trucks for a few lousy bucks.
And the bosses held out half our pay.
Oh, hold that picket line.
We’re fighting for our jobs and more pay,
For the longshoremen’s right to picket and fight,
And to organize in our own way.
Then, we went to Fink Hall for the strawbosses’ call.
And we got the six months’ run around.
And we begged for a job from a pot-bellied slob
Who’d run us clear down to the ground.
Oh, hold that picket line.
We’re fighting for our jobs and more pay,
For the longshoremen’s right to picket and fight,
And to organize in our own way.
But a longshoreman swore he would stand it no more.
And he called to his fellow workingmen.
All the boys heard him say, “Under Section 7 A,
The bosses are gypping us again!”
Oh, hold that picket line.
We’re fighting for our jobs and more pay,
For the longshoremen’s right to picket and fight,
And to organize in our own way.
Then, there came on the scene with his liver full of spleen
Joe Ryan, big shot of ILA.
And in language so polite, he warned us, “Boys, don’t you fight.
Take your troubles to the NRA.”
Oh, hold that picket line.
We’re fighting for our jobs and more pay,
For the longshoremen’s right to picket and fight,
And to organize in our own way.
But those stevedores yelled, “Boo! With scab herders, we are through!
We’ll see who runs the ILA!
We’re out to win this strike, and your tactics, we don’t like!
The rank and file have learned a better way!”
Oh, hold that picket line.
We’re fighting for our jobs and more pay,
For the longshoremen’s right to picket and fight,
And to organize in our own way.