1913 Massacre

1913 Massacre - Ramblin´ Jack Elliott

Take a trip with me

In nineteen thirteen

To Calumet Michigan

In the copper country

I'll take you to a place

Called Italian Hall

And the miners are

Having their big Christmas ball

I'll take you in a door

And up a high stairs

Singing and dancing

Is heard everywhere

I'll let you shake hands

With the people you see

And watch the kids dance

Around the big Christmas tree

There's talking and laughing

And songs in the air

And the spirit of Christmas

Is there everywhere

Before you know it

You're friends with us all

And you're dancing around

And around in the hall

You ask about work

And you ask about pay

They'll tell you they make less

Than a dollar a day

Working their copper claims

Risking their lives

So it's fun to spend Christmas

With children and wives

A little girl sits down

By the Christmas tree lights

To play the piano

So you gotta keep quiet

To hear all this fun

You would not realize

That the copper boss

Thug men are milling outside

The copper boss thugs

Stuck their heads in the door

One of them yelled

And he screamed

There's a fire

A lady she hollered

There's no such a thing

Keep on with your party

There's no such a thing

A few people rushed

And there's only a few

It's just the thugs

And the scabs foolling you

A man grabbed his daughter

And he carried her down

But the thugs held the door

And he could not get out

And then others followed

About a hundred or more

But most everybody

Remained on the floor

The gun thugs they laughed

At their murderous joke

And the children were smothered

On the stairs by the door

Such a terrible sight

I never did see

We carried our children

Back up to their tree

The scabs outside

Still laughed at their spree

And the children that died there

Was seventy-three

The piano played a slow funeral tune

And the town was lit up

By a cold Christmas moon

The parents they cried

And the men they moaned

See what your greed

For money has done