Joe Hill, Which Side Are You On,

The working man's lot has been written about and songs have been written about it for many years, particularly during the initial times when the struggle for equality was at is height.

But these days the struggle remains in a different way.  As local and national budgets become restricted, often worker pensions, raises and other benefits are the first to go, even before reduction in force.

Nowhere are the rights of the workers better expressed than in the song about the controversial Joe Hill.  History records him as the authorities found him a petty thief and one involved in desperate crimes, however his efforts for the working man are also shown to demonstrate how people used, and abuse, the protests against unfair labor practices.  The song, "Which Side Are You On" by Pete Seeger, shows how controversial the issue has been.


Paul Robeson was one of the first singers to express the sentiments of Joe Hill.  Joan Baez, an advocate for equal rights and a major folk singer in America, also has performed and recorded Joe Hill, using her beautiful soprano voice as a major emotional emphasis to the issues raised about the working man.

The song Joe Hill is a traditional folk song, while "Which Side Are You On" represents the variety of songs by Pete Seeger.  They are both done here together in honor of the working man and Labor Day as well, a day that remembers the contributions of ordinary folk to the rise of the middle class throughout most of the developed world.