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

Rough demo; home recording. Clawhammer banjo and voice. 

First draft and demo of a song in solidarity with the workers at Nechville Banjos, who have just been locked out by the company's owner, Tom Nechville, in an illegal retaliation for unionizing. Tom is shutting down the company to close and re-open it out west, as a direct response to the workers going public with their union. While he and his apologists frame this as a long-time plan of his, the truth is that such a move was never announced in the past and is being rolled out as a retaliatory response to the workers organizing. That is a flagrant violation of labor law and, more importantly, of the rights of the workers.

As a union carpenter and musician, I'm proud to call the Nechville Six my new union brothers. We will fight this union busting and we will win. 

Lyrics: 

Tom Nechville is a union-busting man, 
Does a ULP most every day, 
Closin’ down his shop to bust the union was his plan
But Tom will never get away, no, no, the union won’t let him get away

Tom Nechville went to Oregon- spent all his time away
He was not there to oversee
dumped his work onto the luthiers, but didn’t raise their pay
So his workers joined the UBC, they went and joined the UBC

Chorus
The workers make the banjos and the banjos make the song
And those workers have organized
Voice on voice together, rise up and sing along, 
No banjos ‘less you recognize, bargain square and recognize

Tom dreamed of a monument worthy of his name-
A tower in a banjo’s form, 
But his workers all said, “We’d like health care instead”
And a handful of other reforms, very simple and easy reforms

Six workers in the shop, and all six went through with it
To put all his reprisals to a stop
But the day that they went public, Tom Nechville threw a fit 
And he swore he would close the shop, pack up and close the shop

Chorus


Before the workers united, Tom’s plans looked so bright
And he dreamed of his banjo tower
Now he says that he’s broke and his money’s up in smoke
With lawyers at 500/hr, union-busting at 500/hr

Up in heaven, in the hall of Angels Local 23, 
Pete Seeger can’t get no rest, 
He’s looking down on earth, and sick at what he sees
He might come back and picket Banjos West, he might come back just to picket Banjos West

Chorus 

A banjo’s a loom that spins power out of pain, 
Growing strength in a world long mad 
Songs that hold the picket line and songs that break the chains 
Can never come from the hands of scabs, never come from the hands of scabs 

When carpenters or luthiers are under an attack
when the boss is back to his tricks 
The UBC has sworn that we will stand and fight them back
and we’ll stand with the Nechville Six- stand with the Nechville six 

Chorus

The Nechville Six (Demo 1)

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

The Nechville Six (Demo 1)

Emmett Doyle

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