They All Sang Bread and Roses

Folks like you and me who thought that they were all alone, within this honored movement found a home

Hi all,

Thank you for joining me for today’s song, “They All Sang Bread and Roses”, by Si Kahn, sung by Ronnie Gilbert. If you’d like to hear the song before you read the background, I’ve included a YouTube video below the article. TOEIC (PBT) 450+, Eiken 2, CEFR B1.

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(521 words)

Like many people around the world, when times are hard and I’m feeling down, I turn to music to lift my spirits.

The song is about different eras in American history when people were having a tough time. Maybe it was due to racial or class oppression. Maybe it was due to problems with the way workers were treated by companies. When times were challenging, people joined together because they have more power when they do. This song outlines some of the songs that people sang. All of these songs I have covered this year. The links are below. I encourage you to read the earlier posts about them in case you missed them before.

The lyrics begin with a bit of nostalgia about how the 1960s were somehow better than what we’re living through now. The Weavers were a folk group in the 1950s.

Now don't you think it's crazy, this old world and its ways?
Whoever thought the Sixties would be called “the good old days”?
But like the Weavers sang to us, “Wasn't that a time?” (1)
When we raised our hands and voices on the line

Raising your hand and voices “on the line” means chanting or singing on the picket line (during a union strike) or the protest line. 

Screen Actors Guild members on strike, walking the picket line in front of Netflix's New York offices. Photo: Still On Strike (Wikimedia Commons, Photo by Eden, Janine and Jim from New York City)

The “hall” was a union hall. It was a place where union members would come together to talk about things like fair pay, safe working conditions, and whether to go on strike if they felt their jobs were unfair. They often sang a popular union song, Solidarity Forever.

And we all sang "Bread and Roses" (2), "Joe Hill" (3) and "Union Maid" (4)
We linked our arms and told each other “We are not afraid”
"Solidarity Forever" (5) would go rolling through the hall
“We Shall Overcome" (6) together one and all

Union halls were most popular from the late 1800s to the mid-1900s. During this time, workers in the U.S. and other countries joined together in unions to ask for better treatment, fair pay, and safer places to work.

AFL-CIO Town Hall Meeting crowd (Wikimedia Commons, Photo: AFL-CIO America's Unions)

The more I study history, the more I seem to find
That in every generation there are times just like that time
When folks like you and me who thought that they were all alone
Within this honored movement found a home

And they all sang "Bread & Roses”…

The movement could be the union movement or the civil rights movement.

And though each generation fears that it may be the last
Our presence here is witness to the power of the past
And just as we have drawn our strength from those who now are gone
Younger hands will take our work and carry on

And they'll all sing "Bread & Roses", "Joe Hill" and "Union Maid"
They'll link their arms and tell each other “We are not afraid"
"Solidarity Forever" will go rolling through the hall
"We Shall Overcome" together one and all

Notice how the chorus has shifted to “they WILL”. The baton will be passed to younger generations who will continue the work in the movement. Today, it could be any movement that is working for social justice around the world.

They'll link their arms and tell each other “We are not afraid" 45th Anniversary of the Civil Rights March from Selma, Alabama to Montgomery, Alabama (Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain. Photo courtesy of Carol M. Highsmith)

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Question:

Think back over your life. What was one time that you now think were “the good old days”?

Which social justice movement are you interested in? (For example, environmental justice, racial justice and equity, women’s rights, immigrant rights, LGBTQ+ protections, or something else?)

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Vocabulary

era 時代
oppression 抑圧
generation 世代

For a variety of performers singing this song, see:

https://www.riseupandsing.org/songs/they-all-sang-bread-roses

(1)

Wasn’t That a Time

(2)

We want bread

(3)

Joe Hill

(4)

Union Maid

(5)

Solidarity Forever

(6)

We shall overcome some day

I believe that education should be free.

All of the articles about the songs will remain free for students to use. (We are all students, are we not?) However, if you find these articles useful and are in a position to make a small (or large) donation, I would be deeply grateful.

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