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I.W.W. Songs To Fan The Flames of Discontent: "Little Red Song Book"
Undoubtedly the most popular book in American labor history, the I.W.W.'s Little Red Song Book has been a staple item on picket lines and at other workers' gatherings for generations, and has gone through numerous editions. As a result of I.W.W. efforts to keep up with the times, however, recent versions of the songbook have omitted most of the old-time favorites. The steadily mounting interest in Wobbly history warrants this facsimile edition from the union's Golden Age. Ninety years ago these songs were sung with gusto in Wobbly halls, and they're still fun to sing today!
69 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1923
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About the author
Industrial Workers of the World
68 books10 followers The Industrial Workers of the World is an international union currently headquartered in Cincinnati. At its 1923 peak it claimed over 100,000 members in good standing & could marshal the support of many more. Membership declined dramatically after a 1924 split brought on by internal conflict. Today it's actively organizing & numbers about 2,000 worldwide. Membership doesn't require that one work in a represented workplace, nor does it exclude membership other unions.
The IWW contends that all workers should be united as a class & the wage system should be abolished. They may be best known for the Wobbly Shop model of workplace democracy, in which workers elect recallable delegates, & other norms of grassroots democracy (self-management) are implemented.
The IWW was founded in Chicago at a convention of 200 socialists, anarchists & radical trade unionists from all over the USA (notably the Western Federation of Miners) who were opposed to the policies of the American Federation of Labor (AFL). The
convention, which took place on 6/27/05, was then referred to as the "Industrial Congress" or the "Industrial Union Convention"—it would later be known as the 1st Annual Convention of the IWW. It's considered one of the most important events in the history of the labor movement. Its 1st organizers included Wm D. (Big Bill) Haywood, Daniel DeLeon, Eugene Victor Debs, Thomas J. Hagerty, Lucy Parsons, "Mother" Mary Harris Jones, Frank Bohn, Wm Trautmann, Vincent St John, Ralph Chaplin & many others. Notable members of the Industrial Workers of the World have included Helen Keller; Joe Hill; Ralph Chaplin; Tom Morello; Ricardo Flores Magon; James P. Cannon; James Connolly; Jim Larkin; Paul Mattick; David Dellinger; Elizabeth Gurley Flynn; Sam Dolgoff, Monty Miller; Indian Nationalist Lala Hardayal; Frank Little; ACLU founder Roger Nash Baldwin; Harry Bridges; Buddhist beat poet Gary Snyder; Australian poets Harry Hooton & Lesbia Harford; anthropologist David Graeber; graphic artist Carlos Cortez; counterculture icon Kenneth Rexroth; Surrealist Franklin Rosemont; Rosie Kane & Carolyn Leckie, former Members of the Scottish Parliament; Judi Bari; folk musicians Utah Phillips & David Rovics; mixed martial arts fighter Jeff Monson; Finnish folk music legend Hiski Salomaa; US Green Party politician James M. Branum; Teacher Saul Fleider; Catholic Workers Dorothy Day & Ammon Hennacy; nuclear engineer Susanna Johnson; and Noam Chomsky. The former lieutenant governor of Colorado, David C. Coates was a labor militant, & was present at the founding convention.
The IWW contends that all workers should be united as a class & the wage system should be abolished. They may be best known for the Wobbly Shop model of workplace democracy, in which workers elect recallable delegates, & other norms of grassroots democracy (self-management) are implemented.
The IWW was founded in Chicago at a convention of 200 socialists, anarchists & radical trade unionists from all over the USA (notably the Western Federation of Miners) who were opposed to the policies of the American Federation of Labor (AFL). The
convention, which took place on 6/27/05, was then referred to as the "Industrial Congress" or the "Industrial Union Convention"—it would later be known as the 1st Annual Convention of the IWW. It's considered one of the most important events in the history of the labor movement. Its 1st organizers included Wm D. (Big Bill) Haywood, Daniel DeLeon, Eugene Victor Debs, Thomas J. Hagerty, Lucy Parsons, "Mother" Mary Harris Jones, Frank Bohn, Wm Trautmann, Vincent St John, Ralph Chaplin & many others. Notable members of the Industrial Workers of the World have included Helen Keller; Joe Hill; Ralph Chaplin; Tom Morello; Ricardo Flores Magon; James P. Cannon; James Connolly; Jim Larkin; Paul Mattick; David Dellinger; Elizabeth Gurley Flynn; Sam Dolgoff, Monty Miller; Indian Nationalist Lala Hardayal; Frank Little; ACLU founder Roger Nash Baldwin; Harry Bridges; Buddhist beat poet Gary Snyder; Australian poets Harry Hooton & Lesbia Harford; anthropologist David Graeber; graphic artist Carlos Cortez; counterculture icon Kenneth Rexroth; Surrealist Franklin Rosemont; Rosie Kane & Carolyn Leckie, former Members of the Scottish Parliament; Judi Bari; folk musicians Utah Phillips & David Rovics; mixed martial arts fighter Jeff Monson; Finnish folk music legend Hiski Salomaa; US Green Party politician James M. Branum; Teacher Saul Fleider; Catholic Workers Dorothy Day & Ammon Hennacy; nuclear engineer Susanna Johnson; and Noam Chomsky. The former lieutenant governor of Colorado, David C. Coates was a labor militant, & was present at the founding convention.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
December 24, 2016
A must for all folk music fans. This is where it began. If you dreamed you saw Joe Hill last night, well, you'll see a bit of the real man in here. There were no chords for musicians but many of the lyrics were written to be sung to the tune of popular music of the day. A genuine grass roots book of history.
March 6, 2014
What the IWW lacked in philosophical sophistication they made up in cultural swag. These songs are mostly dated and corny but also I am psyched for the one final battle with the money parasites.
June 10, 2017
Classic content.
Nice presentation.
Nice presentation.
December 31, 2022
I joined the TEFL Workers’ Union (@TEFLUnion) branch of Industrial Workers of the World (@IWW), based in London, a couple of years ago. As far as I know, it is the only active union for workers in the Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) industry. It is small, but to use a boxing analogy, punches well above its weight, with some impressive wins for workers. I was happy to join the IWW, the famed Wobblies, largely because of its ethos and its glorious history, especially as chronicled in many episodes of the podcast “Working Class History” (https://workingclasshistory.com). I feel the Wobblies (nickname for the IWW) were very probably a union the wonderful Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger were involved with, and very probably they had copies of this or a very similar little red book.
This book starts with the “Preamble of the Industrial Workers of the World” text, a great philosophical basis for a workers’ union, and a terrific call to arms for the working class.
I like how the class struggle is defined as a struggle between two classes, “the working class” and “the employing class”. This division seems to put people like me, graduates of higher education who spend their lives as wage-earning workers, into the working class, rather than a more divisive cultural definition of class that, because of my upbringing, would put me into a third, culturally-defined middle class.
I like how the Wobblies reject older traditional guild-like unions, particular to individual trades within industries, which could be pitted against each other by crafty employers to undermine and defeat industrial action by one group of workers, and framed the IWW as a great big union that includes all workers in any one industry, or if necessary, all workers in all industries, who would come out together if any part went on strike, with the philosophy that “An injury to one is an injury to all”. I like how socialism is built into the IWW: “Between these two classes a struggle must go on until the workers of the world organise as a class, take possession of the earth and the machinery of production, and abolish the wage system.” This preamble is a great fighting call to arms against capitalist wage slavery: “It is the historic mission of the working class to do away with capitalism. The army of production must be organised, not only for the every day struggle with capitalists, but also to carry on production when capitalism shall have been overthrown. By organising industrially we are framing the structure of the new society within the shell of the old.” This surely accords very well with the (interim) socialist future outlined in The Communist Manifesto.
On the actual songs themselves, I like the underlying militant anti-religious stance of a number of songs by Joe Hill, that argue against relief from the burdens to today in the promise of manna in heaven tomorrow, and instead for the organised mass struggle for bread today.
Post script:
Just read in an article on the Socialist Party of Great Britain website, “Woody Guthrie: Resonant Voice for the Downtrodden: Woolly-Eyed Lefty” that backs up the idea that he was influenced by the IWW, if not actually a part of it. The article also says that “the IWW provided Guthrie with a simplistic political consciousness beyond which he never materially developed” (https://www.worldsocialism.org/spgb/s...). I guess that put down applies to me as well as Woody Guthrie.
This book starts with the “Preamble of the Industrial Workers of the World” text, a great philosophical basis for a workers’ union, and a terrific call to arms for the working class.
I like how the class struggle is defined as a struggle between two classes, “the working class” and “the employing class”. This division seems to put people like me, graduates of higher education who spend their lives as wage-earning workers, into the working class, rather than a more divisive cultural definition of class that, because of my upbringing, would put me into a third, culturally-defined middle class.
I like how the Wobblies reject older traditional guild-like unions, particular to individual trades within industries, which could be pitted against each other by crafty employers to undermine and defeat industrial action by one group of workers, and framed the IWW as a great big union that includes all workers in any one industry, or if necessary, all workers in all industries, who would come out together if any part went on strike, with the philosophy that “An injury to one is an injury to all”. I like how socialism is built into the IWW: “Between these two classes a struggle must go on until the workers of the world organise as a class, take possession of the earth and the machinery of production, and abolish the wage system.” This preamble is a great fighting call to arms against capitalist wage slavery: “It is the historic mission of the working class to do away with capitalism. The army of production must be organised, not only for the every day struggle with capitalists, but also to carry on production when capitalism shall have been overthrown. By organising industrially we are framing the structure of the new society within the shell of the old.” This surely accords very well with the (interim) socialist future outlined in The Communist Manifesto.
On the actual songs themselves, I like the underlying militant anti-religious stance of a number of songs by Joe Hill, that argue against relief from the burdens to today in the promise of manna in heaven tomorrow, and instead for the organised mass struggle for bread today.
Post script:
Just read in an article on the Socialist Party of Great Britain website, “Woody Guthrie: Resonant Voice for the Downtrodden: Woolly-Eyed Lefty” that backs up the idea that he was influenced by the IWW, if not actually a part of it. The article also says that “the IWW provided Guthrie with a simplistic political consciousness beyond which he never materially developed” (https://www.worldsocialism.org/spgb/s...). I guess that put down applies to me as well as Woody Guthrie.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 18, 2020
It's a great little mini lyrics book!
March 15, 2022
The first reviewer is correct. This book is a must for folk fans. It contains many of the most famous (and sometimes infamous) songs of all folk music. These songs have been sung by the likes of Pete Seeger, Joe Glazer, and a host of others. Some come from renowned authors, like E. Nesbit, and others from members of the IWW who had a huge impact on our culture (like Joe Hill, whose name adorns Stephen King's son, and whose music is still sung all over the United States--not to mention songs like Joe Hill, which pay tribute to him, and which have been sung by Paul Robeson, Pete Seeger, and Joan Baez), and are all quite interesting to read or listen to. It is a book well worth picking up and studying for those who enjoy folk music.
February 15, 2014
I have a pile of different editions of this thing dating back to high school days when it was introduced to me by the older members of Tri-S, Maine South's Social Science Society. Imagine, if you can, a carload of fifteen, sixteen and seventeen year-old kids in penny loafters, button-downs and pressed slacks singing "Solidarity Forever" loudly, windows down, at night, on the streets of lily-white Park Ridge, Illinois in 1968.
For us, all this singing long ago was not only a connection with a better part of our country's past, but also a testament to our friendship, our adolescent solidarity against the sell-out emptiness of our parents' late capitalist suburban retreat.
For us, all this singing long ago was not only a connection with a better part of our country's past, but also a testament to our friendship, our adolescent solidarity against the sell-out emptiness of our parents' late capitalist suburban retreat.
November 21, 2010
Holding this book is like holding a piece of history. This was handy as I prepared a CD that featured songs of the civil rights, labor, and peace movements.
December 20, 2014
Lyrics for those who enjoy folk songs and early twentieth century history.
January 1, 2021
songs. some are good. eat the rich.
January 26, 2021
I don't think you actually finish this book. It is part reference, part nostalgia.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews