In 1931, in Harlan County, Kentucky, Florence Reece was the wife of a union organizer. When her husband, Sam, had been targeted for violent intimidation and retribution for his unionizing efforts, he fled the county for his safety. The men hired by the mine owners barged into the Reece home and terrorized Florence and her children in Sam's stead. When the men were finally gone, Florence sat at her kitchen table and penned the lyrics to “Which Side Are You On?”

♥ 

Come all of you good workers,

Good news to you I'll tell,

Of how that good old union

Has come in here to dwell.

 

Which side are you on?

Which side are you on?

Which side are you on?

Which side are you on?

 

My daddy was a miner,

And I'm a miner's son,

And I'll stick with the union,

Till every battle's won.

 

They say in Harlan County,

There are no neutrals there.

You'll either be a union man,

Or a thug for J.H. Blair.

 

Oh, workers can you stand it?

Oh, tell me how you can.

Will you be a lousy scab,

Or will you be a man ?

 

Don't scab for the bosses,

Don't listen to their lies.

Us poor folks haven't got a chance,

Unless we organize.

♥

 

A decade later Pete Seeger with The Almanac Singers recorded it on the album “Talking Union & Other Union Songs” and since then it has been covered and reworked by many musicians, from Billy Bragg to Dropkick Murphys to Natalie Merchant.

In the 1976 Florence Reece made an appearance and sang her song in the Academy Award winning documentary Harlen County, USA, which chronicled the 1973 coal miners strike against Duke Power Company. She can be heard singing it on the Harlan County USA soundtrack and on the CD “Coal Mining Women”.

More recently, Ani Difranco has been performing a new version of this classic Union song, premiering it during Pete Seeger's 90th tribute at Madison Square Garden and playing it for audiences during her summer tour dates. Below are two performances and a version of Ani's lyrics, as clear as I could make 'em out, and I say 'version' because they've been changing a bit here and there as can be expected when folk music is used for protest.

 

 

From June 29^th Orpheum Theater, Los Angeles

 

 

 

♥

 

they stole a few elections,

still we the people won

n' voted out corruption and

big corporations

 

we voted for an end to war

new direction

we ain’t gonna stop now

until our job is done

 

come on all you workers

this year is our time

get some folks in washington

who cares what’s on our minds

 

come one-come all voters

lets all vote next time

show ‘em which side are you on now

which side are you on

 

which side are you on boys

which side are you on

which side are you on boys

which side are you on

 

which side are you on boys

which side are you on

which side are you on boys

which side are you on

 

30 years of diggin’

got us in this hole

the curse of reaganomics

has finally taken it’s toll

 

lord knows that the free market

is anything but free

it costs dearly to the planet

and the likes of you and me

 

i don’t need those money lenders

suckin’ on my tit

a little socialism

don’t scare me one bit!

 

we could do a whole lot worse

than europe or canada

c’mon mr president

c’mon congress make the law

 

which side are you on boys

which side are you on

which side are you on boys

which side are you on

 

they say in orleans parish

there are no neutrals there

there’s just too much misery

there’s too much despair

 

america who are we

now our innocence is gone

which side are you on now

which side are you on

 

too many stories written

out in black and white

c’mon people of privilege

it’s time to join the fight

 

are we living in the shadow of slavery

or are we moving on

tell me which side are you on girl

which side are you on

 

which side are you on boy

which side are you on

which side are you on boy

which side are you on

 

my mother was a feminist

she taught me to see

that the road to ruin is paved

with patriarchy

 

so, let the way of the women

guide democracy

from plunder and pollution

let mother earth be free

 

feminism ain’t about women

no, that’s not who it is for

it’s about a shifting consciousness

that’ll bring an end to war

 

so listen up you fathers

listen up you sons

which side are you on now

which side are you on.

 

which side are you on boys

which side are you on

which side are you on boys

which side are you on

 

so are we just consumers

or are we citizens

are we gonna make more garbage

or are we gonna make amends

 

are you part of the solution

or are you part of the con?

which side are you on now

which side are you on?

♥