[Verse 1 Voice 1 Gritty railroad flow over pounding steel] Panic hit hard in eighteen seventy three Companies cut pay like the work came free Jobs disappeared while the pressure got worse Working class families felt every reverse July seventy seven hear the rail lines roar Workers walked out said we cannot take more Strikes spread fast through the railroad towns Rail yards burned and the tracks came down Strikebreakers came trying to fill every place Federal troops moved to shut down the case Order came back but the message stayed clear Cut working people and resistance appears [Chorus All voices over massive industrial beat] Fair pay Fair days Workers rights are gonna stay Stand up now Stand up proud Gonna make this thing get loud Eight hours work Eight hours rest Give working people nothing less Side by side Crowd by crowd Voices together Make it loud [Verse 2 Voice 2 Rapid Chicago flow with siren synth] Eighteen eighty six on the Chicago scene McCormick workers stood by the machine Striking for an eight hour working day Police broke the rally and forced them away Next day Haymarket crowds came through Gathered in protest for what workers knew Police gave orders for the crowd to divide One unknown person threw a bomb in the night Chaos broke loose and the lives were all lost Workers and cops both car-ried the cost Public opinion put unions to blame Labor and violence got linked by the name [Chorus All voices over massive industrial beat] Fair pay Fair days Workers rights are gonna stay Stand up now Stand up proud Gonna make this thing get loud Eight hours work Eight hours rest Give working people nothing less Side by side Crowd by crowd Voices together Make it loud [Verse 3 Voice 3 Deep steelworker flow with furnace bass] Homestead steel in eighteen ninety two Managers cut wages the union pushed through Workers went striking outside of the mill Both sides locked in a battle of wills Nonunion labor got called to the plant Three hundred guards came taking their stance A violent clash left ten people gone The state militia came marching at dawn Plant reopened with the union denied Membership dropped when the movement got tried Carnegie Steel kept the furnaces bright But Homestead showed who controlled that fight [Chorus All voices over massive industrial beat] Fair pay Fair days Workers rights are gonna stay Stand up now Stand up proud Gonna make this thing get loud Eight hours work Eight hours rest Give working people nothing less Side by side Crowd by crowd Voices together Make it loud [Verse 4 Voice 4 Smooth defiant flow over train percussion] Pullman cut wages in eighteen ninety four Workers walked out when they could take no more Company answered by closing the gate Railway Union put its strength on display No train moving with a Pullman car Rail traffic froze from near to far Owners got Olney to call it a crime Court injunction put the union in line Holding up railways and holding the mail Debs would not stop so they sent him to jail Cleveland sent troops and the strike went down Still workers organized town after town [Final Chorus Four voices trading lines with beat switches] Fair pay Fair days Workers rights are gonna stay Stand up now Stand up proud Gonna make this thing get loud Eight hours work Eight hours rest Give working people nothing less Side by side Crowd by crowd Voices together Make it loud Fair pay Fair days Workers rights are gonna stay Stand up now Stand up proud Gonna make this thing get loud [Outro Four voices over fading factory machines] Railroad Haymarket Homestead Pullman Four hard fights One long movement The strikes went down The cause stayed proud Voices together Make it loud
