“The Little Red Songbook” Sheet Music (pdf).
“The Little Red Songbook” Karaoke (midi with lyrics).
Lyrics: Richard Brazier.
Tune: “Ben Bolt.”
Oh, don’t you remember that little Red book
That to many had brought much delight
To sing its songs, when their fancy it took,
As they would sing them both day and night?
In logging camps, where the mountains are high,
In valleys and places so alone,
Or waiting to catch a train on the fly,
They’d sing all those songs of their own.
Or waiting to catch a train on the fly,
They’d sing all those songs of their own.
Oh, don’t you remember each old Wobbly song
And all those who had birth to them gave?
Now, to all workers, these songs do belong,
Like Joe Hill’s “The Preacher and the Slave.”
And of Ralph Chaplin’s, the best one of all,
The sweet strains of it will ever ring
As Labor’s anthem, its clarion call,
“Solidarity Forever” we’ll sing.
As Labor’s anthem, its clarion call,
“Solidarity Forever” we’ll sing.
Oh, don’t ever forget that little Red book,
For its day will return very soon.
Then, workers, seeking at old songs to look,
In that old book will find the right tune,
For all the old songs, and many that’s new,
Will repeat that old story again
Of Workers, unite, together be true,
If real Freedom you’d hope to attain.
Of Workers, unite, together be true,
If real Freedom you’d hope to attain.
Then, all united, “we” gather our might,
As we march to a much better day.
Then, as we travel to a future so bright,
We will sing all our troubles away
Songs that will cheer us as we hike along
That hard road that all workers must take.
If Freedom is worth a fight and a song,
That old songbook a good friend will make.
If Freedom is worth a fight and a song,
That old songbook a good friend will make.