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Stung Right - Joe Hill (1912)

from When We Stand Together by Magpie

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First published in the March 1913 edition (fifth edition) of the IWW Little Red Songbook.
The IWW, while not pacifist in a strict sense, has always recognized that war and militarism are the bastard children of the class war, both enriching the already rich manufacturers, while depending upon the working class to do the fighting, bleeding and
dying. Joe’s parody of W.S. Weeden’s “Sunlight, Sunlight” makes this point with his characteristic humor, telling the story of an unwitting recruit into the U.S. Navy. On a personal note, we learned the song because it was nearly the same story as that of our dear friend and the maker of our guitars, the late Larry Sifel. This one’s for you, Larry!
Just a couple of months before his execution in Utah, Joe wrote to his friend and fellow worker Sam Murray in San Francisco:
"Well war certainly shows up the capitalist system in the right light. Millions of men are employed at making ships and others are hired to sink them. Scientific management, eh, wot?" ––Joe Hill

lyrics

When I was hiking ’round the town to find a job one day, I saw a sign that a thousand men were wanted right away, To take a trip around the world in Uncle Sammy’s fleet,
I signed my name a dozen times upon a great big sheet.

I was stung right, stung right, S-T-U-N-G,
Stung right, stung right, easy mark, that’s me When my term is over, and again I’m free, There’ll be no more trips around the world for me.

The man he said, “The U. S. Fleet, that is no place for slaves, The only thing you have to do is stand and watch the waves.” But in the morning, five o’clock, they woke me from my snooze, To scrub the deck and polish brass, and shine the captain’s shoes.

One day a dude in uniform to me commenced to shout,
I simply plugged him in the jaw, and knocked him down and out; They slammed me right in irons then and said, “You are a case.” On bread and water then I lived for twenty-seven days.

One day the captain said, “Today I’ll show you something nice, All hands line up, we’ll go ashore and have some exercise.”
He made us run for seven miles as fast as we could run,
And with a packing on our back that weighed a half a ton.

Some time ago when Uncle Sam he had a war with Spain, And many of the boys in blue were in the battle slain,
Not all were killed by bullets, though; no, not by any means, The biggest part that were killed by Armour’s Pork and Beans.

credits

from When We Stand Together, released July 23, 2022
words by Joe Hill, melody by W.S. Weeden

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James Connolly Upstate NY IWW image

James Connolly Upstate NY IWW Albany, New York

The James Connolly Upstate NY IWW branch is a union for all workers based in NY. Musicians and other workers wishing to organize can find us here upstatenyiww.wordpress.com/contact/

Our benefit album is out May 31st. Support our organizing workers! ... more

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