`Big Bill Haywood'

(chorus)
So fight for your class all at one time
And don’t be a scab to get pearls
And stop their machines in One Big Union
The Industrial Workers of the World.

(verses)
There once was a union builder, his name was Bill Haywood
He organized mines in Utah, so workers could get more food
He fought in Colorado, in Denver and Cripple Creek
The bosses tried to shoot him, but Big Bill could not be beat. (chorus)

They put his men in bull-pens and broke into their homes
The rich formed vigilantes and tried to gun Bill down
They framed him for a killing and chained him by his feet
But workers rallied ‘round him, and Big Bill could not be beat. (chorus)

He spoke to textile workers who came from many lands
He told them that the wage system was what enslaved all of them
And when World War broke out, he fought for his free speech
And ‘though the bosses jailed him, Big Bill could not be beat. (chorus)

So workers if you’re laid off and walking streets in despair
Remember Bill Bill’s teachings and don’t fear “sabotage”
The bosses tried to crush him, but his spirit was too deep
And all the striking workers know that Big Bill could not be beat. (chorus)

The Big Bill Haywood biographical folk song was written during the 1970s, after I read The Autobiography of Big Bill Haywood. The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) still exists in this 21st-century “era of permanent war and blogging” and has a website at the following link:

http://www.iww.org/

The Big Bill Haywood folk song can be heard if you click onto the music site link at:

http://www.last.fm/music/Bob+A.+Feldman/Biographical+Folk+Songs/Big+Bill+Haywood

Some other protest folk songs can also be heard at:

http://www.myspace.com/bobafeldman68music

Next: DARPA’s Military Mission & University Connections—Part 1