Songs of the Industrial Workers of the World (4th Australian edition)/The Workers of the World Are Now Awakening
THE WORKERS OF THE WORLD ARE NOW AWAKENING.
By Richard Brazier.
(Tune "The Shade ol the Old Apple Tree").
The Workers of the World are now awaking;
The earth is shakin' with their mighty tread,
The master class in great fear now are quaking,
The sword of Damocles hangs o'er their head.
The toilers in one union are uniting,
To overthrow their cruel master's reign.
In one union now they all are fighting,
The product of their labor to retain.
CHORUS:
It's a union for true Liberty,
It's a union for you and me;
It's the workers' own choice.
It's for girls and for boys.
Who want freedom from wage slavery;
And we march with a Red Flag ahead,
'Cause the blood of all nations is red—
Come and join in the fray,
Come and join us to-day,
We are fighting for Freedom and Bread.
The master class in fear have kept us shaking,
For long in bondage they held us fast;
But the fight the Industrial Workers are "now making.
Will make our chains a relic of the past.
Industrial unionism' now is calling,
The toilers of the world they hear its cry.
In line with the Industrial Workers they are tailing.
By their principles to stand and fall or die.
DON'T FORGET that SIX hours a day would put thousands to work.
Why does a short work day and a long pay always go together?