I’m a carpenter by trade, for a solid union wage 
for contractors we build up the Twin Cities
And as summers come and went, my apprenticeship was spent 
Raising bridges across the Mississippi 
But before my station rose, I was deckhand on the tows
And the river and I have an understanding 
That I stay tied off up here, and away from her keep clear 
But if I fall she’ll mangle me on landing 

Chorus
I’ve built bridges and the byways from the river to the highways
Above the river and the traffic rolling 
 I’ve raised scaffolding and forms til my boots were wrecked and worn 
Now I whistle ‘cross the bridges as I’m strollin’

We were working in the sleet on the deck below 3rd street
And when break time came my bro took off his yo-yo
Then it whipped around and sped, and it clipped me in the head
And damn near left my partner working solo
I hung over the edge, ‘bove the waterfall and ledge
And the killer yo-yo snapped back to its anchor 
Thank God I still had mine and it held me on the line 
Lucky as the richest Wall Street banker 

When 10th street was re-decked, the whole span was almost wrecked 
When they tried to pull the Quik-Shield ‘cross the river 
We stretched cables there and back, and ratcheted the slack 
So tight that the steel would barely quiver 
Then we threw the deck on top, ‘til we got the word to stop
For the engineers re-did their calculations 
And the tension and the weight would pull the piers down straight 
And earn us all a ticket to damnation

One day as I built brackets I was startled by a racket 
Of a half a ton of treated timber landing
when a stack of 4x4s tumbled down 3 floors 
and fell onto the spot where I’d been standin’
Well the men up top were hushed for they figured I was crushed 
And the man who cut the bundle took the blame 
Be no sin, if I were pissed, but I shouted up “You missed!”
 And I hollered at the man to mind his aim 

Buildin’ spans from rim to rim we risked our lives and limbs
To keep the Minneapolis bridges standin’
So no more tragic days will come our city’s way
When infrastructure upkeep is abandoned 
From Northeast to the South Side they’re each my joy and pride 
Risin’ up above the city’s rubble 
For fortune took her shots, and I’ve taken all my knocks 
And taken home the paycheck for my trouble

Minneapolis Bridges

Brookwood Blues
E-A-B 12 bar blues, capo'd up to F. 

I started writing this song when the strike was a few days old, and kept revisiting it for two years as the strike unfolded. Ultimately, the workers lost this one. Why did we lose? We have to think critically about what it would take to win strikes and how to accomplish that. The way strikes work in the US right now, there's a contract expiration date that gives the boss plenty of time to stockpile products and funds to wait it out. Company-loyal local politicians and judges side with the companies. We as workers are encouraged to wait and endure rather than to escalate and expand the struggle. Functional, effective tactics for halting production are heavily regulated and even banned. How can we build a labor movement that can win a strike like Brookwood?

Lyrics and chords:

Out on strike in Brookwood, since April’s coming in (x2)
Been out on the picket, we been in it to win 

The aching from the mine, lord you carry it back home (x2)
Breaks down a family, like it breaks down your bones

There’s methane in the rocks- above your head a hundred tons (x2)
13 died in number 5, burned alive back in ‘01

Mills roll out the steel, get their coke from our supply (x2)
Brokers lining up behind ‘em, New York City to Shanghai

Back in ‘16 they called it bankrupt, gave our pay a six buck chop (x2)
The new name’s just a shell game,  It’s the same bosses on the top

Scab attacked the picket, drove their truck into the line (x2)
It’s a fight in Alabama, it’s a war back in the pines

They been stockpiling the coal, and they’ve got it by the stack (x2)
We could learn from those Kentucky boys, the ones who blocked the tracks  

No scabs came in the day we made our trucks into a wall (x2)
The cop said who’s in charge? We said you’d have to take us all

The judges gave the bosses every injunction that they asked (x2)
Made our picketing a crime, so all the scabs could pass

We leaned on one another, anything we had we shared (x2)
But bills kept on piling, seemed like the world didn’t care

You know the deck was stacked, spent two years out on the line (x2)
Workers had the power, but the bosses had the time

Back at work in Brookwood, and the struggle’s underground (x2) 				
If we want to win it next time, gotta break their system down

Brookwood Blues

Folk musician, carpenter, and anarchist. Former member of the Wooden Shoe Ramblers. 
Website: https://edoylemusic.weebly.com/
Bandcamp: https://emmettdoyle.bandcamp.com/album/rust-belt-ballads
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/emmettdoyle
WSR: https://woodenshoeramblers.bandcamp.com/releases

Brookwood Blues

Emmett Doyle

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