“One More Day than Them” Sheet Music (pdf).
“One More Day than Them” Karaoke (midi with lyrics).
Lyrics: Geoff Francis and Peter Hicks.
Tune: Geoff Francis and Peter Hicks.
Me and Sandy, we got up each day,
And we stood by the factory gates,
Where each day we heard the whistle blow
At around fifteen past eight,
And the scabs’ bus drove right past our line.
They never looked us in the eye.
One shouted, “At least we’re workin’, mate.”
“Not when we’re done,” says I.
And this woman from the local press
Came at me with a pad and pen.
She asked, “How long more can you hold out?”
I said, “One more day than them.”
And if we’ve told them once,
Well, we’ve told them twice,
And we’ll tell them again and again
That, no matter what,
We’re holding out
One more day than them!
Well, the bosses sure thought they were smart
When they tried to cut our pay.
They said, “We can hire the likes of you
For fifty bucks a day.”
But they didn’t count on the union.
We were solid; every man
And woman in that factory
Stuck firmly to our plan.
And this expert in a suit and tie
On the TV news at 10:00,
He asked, “How long more can you hold our?”
I said, “One more day than them.”
And if we’ve told them once,
Well, we’ve told them twice,
And we’ll tell them again and again
That, no matter what,
We’re holding out
One more day than them!
There were times it kind of got to us,
Living hand to mouth each day.
The government called us wreckers.
We just wanted decent pay.
But we stood together, all of us.
No, not one of us gave in.
And we knew that, if we hung in there,
The bosses would cave in.
Then, we got this call from the manager,
Asking what we meant to do.
He asked, “How long more will you hold on?”
We said, “One more day than you.”
Their order books, well, they were full,
But production lagged behind
Cuz the scabs brought in to work our shifts
Couldn’t make the goods on time.
He said he wanted to talk to us
And that his words were good and true.
We said, “That’s good cuz we’re holding out
Just one more day than you.”
And if we’ve told them once,
Well, we’ve told them twice,
And we’ll tell them again and again
That, no matter what,
We’re holding out
One more day than them!
Now, me and Sandy, we get up each day,
And we go through that factory gate,
Where each day we hear that whistle blow
At around fifteen past eight.
Well, it’s dirty work; it’s tiring work.
And it sure ain’t any fun.
But we hold our heads up proud and tall
Just a-knowing that we’ve won.
No, we didn’t fear the bosses’ threats
When they tried to drive us down
Cuz, when workers all together stand,
Solidarity is found.
So, if anybody asks of you,
Just you tell ’em again and again,
Just no matter what, you’re holding out
Just one more day than them.
One more day than them.