Late one night.
I was working on the job,
working fast,
working hard.
The stampings kept coming
on down the line,
My muscles ached,
but I was keeping time.
Then the line stopped
we had nothing to do.
we wanted to rest,
but the boss said yo,
Don’t sit down!
Don’t sit down!
This story’s been the same
for a long long time.
When we do more,
all they want is overtime.
We worked real fast
and our quality was good,
but they closed the plant,
and left the neighborhood.
Don’t sit down.
Stand tall! ! !
Because you are the ones
who can make a change.
And the blood of struggle
flows through your veins.
The King of England said:
bow down.
But the thirteen colonies
showed him the low down.
Slave owners once said:
Don’t learn to read,
just work real hard
and they'd give you what you need.
Then they fought a war.
Many soldiers died.
Then, the slaves told their owners:
Now you need a place to hide.
Don’t sit down.
Stand tall! ! !
Because there was a time
when workers were hungry,
and the unions said:
Don’t make us angry.
Then the workers went on strike
and the bosses resisted,
but they signed a contract
because the unions insisted.
Don’t sit down.
Stand tall! ! !
Because, “Power concedes nothing without a demand.
It never did and it never will.
Find out just what any people will quietly submit to
and you have found out the exact measure
of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them,
and these will continue
till they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both.”[1]
So just remember,
if you want a change
the blood of struggle
flows through your veins.
Don’t sit down.
Stand tall! ! !
