Si Kahn - Back When Times Were Hard

Back When Times Were Hard
(Performed by Si Kahn)

The wind is off the river
Moon is up tonight
Factory windows shine against the rain
A stranger from another town
Stands just outside the gate
Waiting for the midnight shift to change

Some just walk by quickly
Afraid the boss will see
Some just turn their faces to the ground
But they whisper in the corners
They say it with their eyes
Praise the Lord, the union’s come to town

They stood for the union
They stood for the union
They stood for the union
Back when times were hard

Who will spread the message
Who will bring the news
Who will guide the plow and break the ground
Who will show the courage
To overcome the fear
Who will build a union in this town

Outside the gates at midnight
In a hundred company towns
They talked about the truth that makes us free
The power of the union
The strength that’s in us all
The vision of a day that’s still to be

They stood for the union
They stood for the union
They stood for the union
Back when times were hard

Some of them were beaten
Some got thrown in jail
Some of them were ridden out of town
But the unions that they organized
Are here with us today
Proud and strong, they’ll never keep us down



We rarely stop to honor
The ones who showed the way
We forget their stories much too soon
But the spirit that they gave us
Stands guard outside the gates
Cradled in the shadow of the moon

They stood for the union
They stood for the union
They stood for the union
Back when times were hard

They stood for the union
They stood for the union
They stood for the union
Back when times were hard