That was the melody of Song of the Lower Classes

Originally I was going to record this demo on the guitar, but I'm letting my partner re-string my guitar currently, so it's on bouzouki.

In a band setting, this could be a 4-part harmony; Windborn does a good arrangement of the song in harmonies.

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

First demo of a song about the Marikana massacre; testing some concepts. 

Currently written with a somewhat sped up beat; might slow it down and give it a defined, pronounced reggae beat. The intent here is not to make a South African sounding song; the band has no organic connection or roots in South Africa, and part of our exploration of the African diaspora and pan-African solidarity within a global working class movement, focuses on the Carribean musical tradition. However, we could examine re-writing the melody and beat to a South African tradition if South African artists assist us in that musical exchange. 

The pennywhistle is used in this song, but unlike South African kwela, it is not a major key dance melody over a repeating chord loop. The structure of the song is more similar to the AABA verse and bridge structure in American popular music.

The beginning and end of the song quote the melody of the English Chartist song, "Song of the Lower Classes", to call American and European audiences, especially on a white sections of the left, to reflect on the pathways to solidarity between workers from the colonizer states, and workers of the colonized states, through an anti-capitalist movement spearheaded by the most exploited workers with the support of all other organized workers, which completes the promises of anti-colonial struggle. All of our liberation is bound up in the liberation of the South African worker.

Demos

Guns of Marikana

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

Guns of Marikana

Emmett Doyle

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