Can music really create change?

Hello Everyone,

Did you feel like you had long day at work today? Are you so relieved that the weekend is finally here? Well I can guarantee that your day at work was not as long or hard as a day of work before the American Labor Movement. We owe our fair wages and lesser work hours to the men (and women) who decided to stand together, despite the dangers, and demand decent treatment. One of the most important aspects of this movement was solidarity. Those who chose to strike needed to come together as a cohesive unit in order to successfully demand change for themselves and their future generations. However, there was a major challenge posed to these workers. These workers were vastly different from one another: different countries, different languages, different genders, and different races. This challenge was taken on by the power of music who allowed these people to come together under a similar cause.

A musician, Joe Hill, had a tremendous impact on the American Labor Movement. According to Industrialization and the Emergence of Labor Music “No single person contributed more to the development of the genre of political music in the American labor movement that Joe Hill.” He joined forces with the Industrial Workers of the World (I.W.W) or more commonly known as the Wobblies. He sang at rallies all of the country and no one knew where he was at any particular moment. Quite often he was “witnessed” at two different rally events at the same time but in two different places. This shows that his songs were able to take on a character of their own and functioned independently of Joe Hill. Joe Hill was executed by a firing squad in 1915, no one knowing the true reason. But by that time Joe Hill had become an idea that couldn’t be killed. This is seen by songs written after his death about his persistent presence. “I Thought I Heard Joe Hill Last Night” is one of them; here is a link to Paul Robeson’s version of the song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8Kxq9uFDes

Music’s most important feature is its power to inspire and bring people together behind a common cause. In the case of the American Labor Union many people needed music in order to keep pushing on and complete their strikes. Joe Glazer, a great musician and activist for the industrial workers, said “When you’re in a struggle and people are down, the music is very important to lift people up, help them build their spirit and their solidarity.” Movements need passion. Passion is what can tie people together and allow them the power to succeed whatever they wish to. There is a difference between speeches and songs, one noted by Joe Glazer, “Unlike speeches, music touches the soul, it not just the brain.” Sometimes to make the biggest change we have to unite our souls, not just our words. When there is a war to be held “Music is a great extra weapon.” Here’s some more about the power of music to the American Labor Movement by Joe Glazer himself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaQ7qWo6120

One of the many controversial songs Joe Hill wrote was “The Preacher and the Slave”. Joe Hill along with the Wobblies tried to gather the most destitute people to join the Union cause but they had to fight with the Salvation Army over them. “The Preacher and the Slave” is directed at those people who tried to tell these people not to strike and keep working as they have because “they would receive their reward in heaven”. If people began to believe this it would jeopardize the progress the Union was making to better the working conditions of the industrial worker. If people did not unite and keep striking for the cause then the American Labor Movement would disintegrate. Joe Hill as well as the other Wobblies tried their hardest, and successfully, to win over the people to think about bettering the conditions they were in instead of hoping for a better future after their death. One judge who was trying a striker said “You are striking against God and Nature, whose law is that man shall earn his bread by the sweat of his brow. You are on strike against God!” Maybe man should earn his bread by the sweat of his brow, but not by starvation, homelessness, death (about 100 people died every day from work injuries), and stingy bosses whose selfish wants deprive you of a normal human experience. Songs such as “The Preacher and the Slave” told these people they were only being deceived by this idea, which I have to agree with. Here is a rendition of “The Preacher and the Slave”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ca_MEJmuzMM&feature=related

I hope you have enjoyed this blog and please feel free to comment!