Labor Sings! Exhibit


Manhattan Chorus "Hold the Fort" Manhattan Chorus "We Shall Not Be Moved"

HOLD THE FORT

We meet today in freedom's cause
And raise our voices high.
We'll join our hands in union strong
to battle or to die.

CHORUS:

Hold the fort for we are coming.
Union men be strong.
Side by side we battle onward.
Victory will come.

(Repeat after each verse)

See our numbers still increasing.
Hear the bugles blow.
By our union, we shall triumph
Over every foe.

Fierce and long the battle rages,
But we shall not fear.
Help will come whenever needed.
Cheer, my comrades, cheer.

WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED

We shall not -
We shall not be moved.
We shall not -
We shall not be moved.
Just like a tree that's standing by the water,
We shall not be moved.

We're rollin' on to vict'ry -
We shall not be moved.
We're rollin' on to vict'ry -
We shall not be moved.
Just like a tree that's standing by the water,
We shall not be moved.

We're buildin' one big union -
We shall not be moved.
We're buildin' one big union -
We shall not be moved.
Just like a tree that's standing by the water,
We shall not be moved.

Democracy forever -
We shall not be moved.
Democracy forever -
We shall not be moved.
Just like a tree that's standing by the water,
We shall not be moved.

The Manhattan chorus was an amateur group assembled by Elie Siegmeister in New York City. They recorded one album for Timely Records in 1937, in which these songs appeared. "Hold the Fort" is based on the lyrics of a song sung by the British Transport Workers Union, with music by Philip Bliss. Its origins date back to the Civil War and then the Knights of Labor in the 1880s, before being adapted by the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).

Illustration: Songs For America (Workers Library Publishers, 1939)