Long-haired preachers

There's an old Wobblie song. It's sung to a gospel tune, but not being familiar with gospel songs I don't know the name of the original song. I have it on a Utah Phillips album:


Long-hair preachers come out every night,
tryin' to tell you what's wrong and what's right.
But when asked about something to eat,
they will answer in voices so sweet:

"You will eat by and by,
in that glorious land in the sky (way up high!)
Work and pray, live on hay,
you'll get pie in the sky when you die." (What a lie!)

The Starvation Army they play,
and they clap and they shout and they pray.
When they've got all your coins on the drum,
they will tell you that you're on the bum.

You will eat by and by,
in that glorious land in the sky (way up high!)
Work and pray, live on hay,
you'll get pie in the sky when you die. (What a lie!)

Workin' folks of all countries, unite!
Side by side we for freedom shall fight.
When this world and its wealth we have gained,
to the rafters we'll sing this refrain:

You will eat by and by,
when you've learned how to cook and how to fry;
chop some wood (do you good!)
and you'll eat in that sweet by and by (that's no lie!)

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(fshagan @ May 16 2006, 10:07 PM) [snapback]256675[/snapback]</div>

Thank you. Yep, that's the song.

The Salvation Army has changed a lot. Nowadays they are considered the gold standard of charities, and the homeless men I knew when I was doing volunteer work at the Dorothy Day House (in Moorhead, MN) respected them a lot. But back in the 20's and 30's you had to sit through a sermon to get a meal, and anyone who advocated for better wages and working conditions was told they should quietly accept their miserable lot in life because they'd have their reward in heaven.

 

Another Utah Phillips cut, this one spoken, not sung:

TWO BUMS

The bum on the rods is hunted down as an enemy of mankind.
The other is driven around to his club, is feted, wined, and dined.
And they who curse the bum on the rods as the essence of all that's bad
will greet the other with a winning smile, and extend a hand so glad.
The bum on the rods is a social flea, who gets an occasional bite.
The bum on the plush is a social leech, blood-sucking day and night
The bum on the rods is a load so light that his weight we scarcely feel,
but it takes the labor of dozens of folks to furnish the other a meal.
As long as we sanction the bum on the plush, the other will always be there.
But rid ourselves of the bum on the plush and the other will disappear.
Then make an intelligent, organized kick: Get rid of the weights that crush!
Don't worry about the bum on the rods. Get rid of the bum on the plush.