The Unemployed (1896)
A SONG FOR THE WORKERS, BY YARRA. Day by day our streets are fillingWith the helpless unemployed--
Day by day the cry is swelling
For the homes that are destroyed.
Hear the cry--hear the cry
Of the helpless unemployed.
Hear the cry--hear the cry
For the homes that are destroyed. Brothers come, our foes are forming
Bands of strength o'er all the land,
To break down the walls of freedom.
Make us slaves at their command.
Say to-day--say to-day
Shall we all be unemployed ?
Say to-day--say to-day
Shall our homes be all destroyed? Long the tyrant foe hath taken
All the products of our toil;
All the fruits of vine and wheat field
Drove us from our native soil.
Now the cry--now the cry
Of the helpless unemployed.
Now the cry--now the cry
From the homes that are destroyed. But the cause of all this sorrow
Is that man for his own greed
Sold the birthright of his fellows,
Cared not for their future need.
Hear the cry--hear the cry
Of the helpless unemployed.
Hear the cry--hear the cry
For the homes that are destroyed. Oh, the land by God was given
Not for us to buy and sell,
But for use by His own people
And in happiness to dwell.
Free the land--free the land,
So the homes be not destroyed.
Free the land--free the land,
Then all men will be employed. Work my brothers, never ceasing,
'Gainst the wrong that fills our land,
'Gainst the laws that crush the people
Make yourselves a righteous band.
Then the cry will be no more
Of the helpless unemployed;
Then that cry will be no more
From the homes that were destroyed. Oh, the day will soon be breaking;
Dark and long has been the night,
We've been groping in the darkness,
Wishing for the morning light.
Haste the day--haste the day,
When our toil gets its just wage.
Haste the day--haste the day
That brings the brighter age. Notes From the South Australian Newspaper the Weekly Herald 23 Dec 1915 p. 5.
Top