"Which Side Are You On?" is a song written by
Florence Reece in 1931. Reece was the wife of Sam Reece, a
union organizer for the
United Mine Workers in
Harlan County, Kentucky. In 1931, the miners of that region were locked in a bitter and violent struggle with the mine owners called the
Harlan County War.
In an attempt to intimidate the Reece family, Sheriff J. H. Blair and
his men (hired by the mining company) illegally entered their family
home in search of Sam Reece. Sam had been warned in advance and escaped,
but Florence and their children were terrorized in his place. That
night, after the men had gone, Florence wrote the lyrics to "Which Side
Are You On?" on a calendar that hung in the kitchen of her home. She
took the melody from a traditional
Baptist hymn, "Lay the Lily Low", or the traditional ballad "
Jack Munro".
[1] Florence recorded the song, which can be heard on the CD
Coal Mining Women.
Reece supported a second wave of miner strikes circa 1973, as recounted in the documentary
Harlan County USA. She and others perform "Which Side Are You On?" a number of times throughout.
The song is referred to by
Bob Dylan in the song "
Desolation Row".
Ενόψη των νέων εκλογών και του κλίματος τρομοκρατίας είναι ένα τραγούδι που αντικατοπτρίζει σε μεγάλο βαθμό κάποια πράγματα...
Η τρομοκρατία και ο φόβος ήταν πάντα το κυρίαρχο όπλο της κυρίαρχης τάξης για να καταφέρνει να τιθασεύει τις μάζες και να πετυχαίνει αυτό που θέλει...
Το θέμα είναι ότι κάποιες φορές οι μάζες δεν μάσησαν από τον φόβο που απλόχερα τους πρόσφεραν και πέτυχαν πολλά πράγματα...
ΠΗΓΕΣ: youtube.com
http://en.wikipedia.org
