When they stand hand in hand!
That's a power, that's a power that must rule in every land,
One Industrial Union Grand!
Joe Hill (October 1879-November 1915), born Joel Emmanuel Hägglund, was a Swedish-American labor activist and singer-songwriter whose repertoire includes some of the most recognizable union anthems with fixtures such as "There is Power in a Union
," "The Preacher and the Slave," and "Casey Jones the Union Scab." Born in Sweden, personal tragedy and economic ruin spurred Hill and his brother to immigrate to the United States shortly after the turn of the century. Once in America, Hill worked his way across the country as an itinerant laborer where he experienced the struggle by American workers for fair pay and dignity, something which was reflected in his songwriting. While in California, Hill joined the militant Industrial Workers of the World and swiftly became one of their most renowned activists, attracting curious workers and skewering the union's opponents through his sharp wit and ear for music while still travelling as a freewheeling worker across the western United States.
In 1914 Hill was arrested in Salt Lake City, Utah and brought up on murder charges. Two men who were known to be in conflict with the unionized copper mine workers had been killed by masked assailants, and Hill had sought treatment for a gunshot wound the same night. Despite shaky evidence and the pleas for clemency by several prominent figures, including Helen Keller, Woodrow Wilson, and the Swedish Ambassador, August Ekengren, Hill was found guilty on all charges and sentenced to death. Throughout his imprisonment and trial, Hill refused testify in his own defense and instead spent his last days urging his fellow union members and activists to keep fighting. Hill was executed by firing squad on November 19, 1915 at 36 years old. Hill's death, however, had made him a martyr for the IWW and greater socialist movement in the United States, with his music and ideals continuing to circulate into the modern day with activist singers like Billy Bragg, Pete Seeger, and Utah Phillips all covering Hill's music in the same spirit of solidarity Hill had intended.
Not to be confused with Stephen King's son, who was named after him. Also see Woody Guthrie for a similar left-wing American folk musician.
Tropes that apply to Joe Hill and his music include:
- Audience Participation Song: Like the hymns they were based on, most of Hill's songs were call and response with the audience intended to sing back verses or lines as needed, must notably in "Preacher and the Slave" and "There is Power in a Union.""Work and pray, live on hay, you'll get pie in the sky when you die."
- Briefer Than They Think: Hill made most of his music and art between 1910 and 1914, but in those four years he basically codified the greater culture of the IWW and left an impact on American leftwing activism which is felt even today.
- Chummy Commies: Hill was an unabashed leftist and his music is clearly pro-socialist, portraying socialism and radical unionism as the path to equality, freedom, and prosperity.
- Face Death with Dignity: Hill refused to testify at his own trial, knowing any statement he gave to the court could be turned against his fellow union members. Instead he calmly awaited his execution, writing a final poem as a "last will" and writing to his friends and union comrades to keep fighting for the workers."Goodbye, Bill. I die like a true-blue rebel. Don't waste any time mourning, organize!"
- Take That!: Hill used his music to attack the figures and institutions he saw as exploitative of the working class including big business, hypocritical religion, and scab workers.
- To the Tune of...: Hill made extensive use of popular hymns, particularly Protestant Revival standards, keeping the simple, well-known melodies while penning new lyrics.
- Weird Trade Union: Hill was a member of the Industrial Workers of the World, a radical, militant union which accepted and organized any worker regardless of race, sex, or profession and most of Hill's song exult the IWW and its fight for the working class.
