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  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Black vinyl 12" LP made in Czech Republic by Pirates Press. Includes liner notes and lyric sheet. Cover art by Chicago IWW artist Carlos Cortez.

    Includes unlimited streaming of May Day, or Songs For Lucy Parsons via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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  • Streaming + Download

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lyrics

railroaded to the scaffold, railroaded at express speed
railroaded to the scaffold, railroaded to the scaffold

they hire only half of us to kill the other half
these robber barons of this gilded age
a railroad through Chicago and the judges are appointed
appointed by the ones who own the railway lines

now people lose faith in a system such as this
no wonder one would turn to anarchy
now there are eight men put away in this prison
put on trial for philosophy

some of us are foreigners, all of us are workers
striking for wages and the eight hour day
but some of us want more, more than a written law
some of us want freedom, nothing less than freedom

now we stand convicted, just like we predicted
we are guilty of saying what was true and clear
against that mob of rich men we committed just one sin
we are guilty of saying that their end is near

the voices they strangle will still be heard
oh death is the leveller
and after this which side will you remember?

railroaded to the scaffold, railroaded at express speed
railroaded to the scaffold, railroaded to the scaffold

credits

from May Day, or Songs For Lucy Parsons, released April 19, 2009
written by Tim Rakel, arranged by The May Day Orchestra

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all rights reserved

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about

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The May Day Orchestra St. Louis, Missouri

The May Day Orchestra was founded in 2008 by songwriter Tim Rakel. The current line-up features drummer Mary DeLeonardis, bassist Jake DeLeonardis and guitarist Charlie Tabing. The band is currently releasing installments of their fourth album.

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