Post title: Joe Hill’s last words (prior to execution by firing squad). Image: Woody Guthrie and his famous guitar (“this machine kills fascists”).
So this will actually appear May 2nd. Isn’t it stylish to be late and all that? If you disagree with that, see also this Smithsonian article about time as a social construct. BOOM.
I never learn my lessons. History thus repeats itself.
. . . except I think I am one. As a customer at work said to me: “You write like my old man!”
A moment of theory so I can pretend I’m putting my education to use:
That’s all, folks!
So: May Day/International Workers’ Day/(real) Labor Day in emoji. Yes, your life is now complete. You’re welcome.
Arise, ye workers from your slumbers.
Also, yes, a Spotify playlist to go along with this, because why not? The songs and performers are all a mixed bag; for instance, I found one site that listed 800+ workers’ songs. These are arbitrary choices, pretty much. Some really great ones aren’t here simply because I just plain couldn’t work them out (if you’ve got one, feel free to drop it in the comments). The performers are also fairly arbitrary; some are personal favorite versions/very famous renditions, but others are just why nots? So many of these have so many versions that it’s difficult to pick one.
https://play.spotify.com/user/ijustgetbored/playlist/2gNSz9rfmBBGE5nor3jnmb
LITTLE RED EMOJI BLOG
(this)
*Please note that many/most of these emojis got weird somewhere between the composing and publishing stage (as I see now that I’ve done a preview). There were a variety of skin tones, and that seems to have eradicated itself. I’m not sure what “version” of the emojis is showing up in the actual post, but it’s NOT the one I’m seeing here and used to write this thing.
🍞🌹🌹🌹 (Bread and Roses)
👻👦 (The Ghost of Tom Joad)
I love this series. Where was it when I was teaching?
👧🏬 (I’m Gonna Be an Engineer) [1]
👫👬👭👍 (Solidarity Forever)
🎶👨🔫🔫🔫 (The Ballad of Joe Hill)
👨👩👦👦👩👩👦👦👨👨👦👦🏢🏣🏥🏫 (Union Town)
🍰🌅 (Pie in the Sky)
👨🚂 (Casey Jones)
👨🔨 (John Henry)
🕘🕓 (9 to 5) [2]
🇺🇸🚫👼 (Your Flag Decal Won’t Get You into Heaven Anymore) [3a]
🏡➡️🏭 (Paradise) [3b] [3c] [3d]
🚣 (Michael, Row the Boat Ashore) [4]
👫 👬 👭 🎤❓ (Do You Hear the People Sing?)
🙇💭🛅🙅 (He Thinks He’ll Keep Her)
🔇👮 (Fuck Tha Police) [5]
💅👺🙍 (Pretty Girls)
🚌 (Wheels)
👼✂️⬇️ (God’s Gonna Cut You Down)
📦📦📦 (Little Boxes)
💨⚠️🎹 (Draft Dodger Rag) [6]
🎊✌️ (Chimes of the Freedom)
🐟 🐠 🐡🙌🙌🙌 (FISH Cheer– AKA Fixin’ to Die Rag)
Several versions on Spotify, but none can top the actual Woodstock version. So here.
🙋🚜 (Maggie’s Farm)– Of course!
[1] My hypothetical daughter would/Alice does know this.
I am Woman, hear me . . .
[2] While doing the Spotify playlist, I found the Lady Sovereign version of this. What have we come to??? And no, this is not me being old. Listen and compare the lyrics, for crying out loud.
[3a] Title according to my brother: “Hippie Commie Song by that Guy Who Can’t Sing.”
[3b] See 3a.
[3c] For full list of singers and bands this applies to (according to my brother), schedule a week off work and bring a recording device. Also many tapes. Also batteries. Generator?
[3d] I like David Foster Wallace. I think that’s come up.
[4] Spotify list is Peter, Paul, and Mary– yes, I know their band name doesn’t actually contain the Oxford comma, but welcome to my blog. Anyway, I definitely told my brother that “Puff, the Magic Dragon” was about drugs. Eh, sorry?
[5] This has an “explicit” warning next to it on Spotify, for all those who, um, yeah, I really don’t know who actually needs that.
[6] Every song written or performed by Phil Ochs could pretty much be on here.
Enfin.
Got a favorite song I didn’t cover here? Leave a note in the comments, and I’ll see what I can do . . .
Maggie's Farm 
Workers of the world are grateful to have a suitable playlist to accompany their labors.
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FINE. Next time, the Hamster Dance. 🐹🐹🐹🐹🐹🐹🐹🐹🐹🐹🐹🐹
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ALSO: I got a Spotify playlist to embed properly (i.e., not as a link) before, but it’s not happening this time. Thoughts? Help? I’m sending out an SOS to the world?
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Glad to see Phil Ochs made the list.
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It would have been terribly lacking without him. I was trying not to put multiples by any single artist on here, but singling out one song of his was harder than choosing a Woody Guthrie (since he has better-known “signatures”). That’s part of the reason the quotations ended up as the post’s end; he had/has so many valuable things to say that are still relevant.
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I would agree, hard to pick just one. When I’m sometimes asked to pick my favorite, I sometimes tell them well, here it is today, but tomorrow it will probably be different. And sadly, yes, too many of his songs are still relevant today which wasn’t supposed to be the case since he was a “topical” songwriter.
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That’s an excellent point (he’s part of the reason I avoided the word protest in writing this– he certainly preferred topical, and there really isn’t an umbrella term for all of these). I also vary depending on mood. The point about relevance is entirely too true; the actual subject matter, in a better world, would be past its expiration date– but it isn’t. “Here’s to the State of Mississippi,” for one, is hyperbolic in some ways, but that one in particular often comes to mind (not necessarily in regard to that state– just in general).
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