Don't You Cross That Picket Line Lyrics

In eighteen hundred eighty six

A strike took place at McCormick's

They're mixing with the anarchists

And singing all the union songs

The cops beat up the striking men

The papers all called for revenge

And all those pigs they ate a firebomb

Annual inflation

Is like a cut in pay

Our voice disposed

With purple prose

They send us on our way

No matter what the boss says

We're marching with our signs

So join the crowd

Be union proud

And don't you cross that picket line

In nineteen hundred twenty one

In West Virginia's Matewan

The miners all picked up the gun

Against the yellow dog contracts

They sent the army to the mine

The strikers held the battle line

A deputy caught one right in the chest

Annual inflation

Is like a cut in pay

Our voice disposed

With purple prose

They send us on our way

No matter what the boss says

We're marching with our signs

So join the crowd

Be union proud

And don't you cross that picket line

In eighteen hundred ninety two

The workers all knew what to do

In Homestead it was quite a view

When Frick sent in the Pinkertons

In darkness they snuck in the scabs

On barges when they reached the land

They're staring down the barrel of a gun

Annual inflation

Is like a cut in pay

Our voice disposed

With purple prose

They send us on our way

No matter what the boss says

We're marching with our signs

So join the crowd

Be union proud

And don't you cross that picket line