First of May

It started with a protest in the Gilded Age
Chicago, Illinois was the stage
Workers had gathered across the country to demand a living wage

First in Chicago, then in Milwaukee
The state of US democracy
Was shown to the world with volleys of bullets from the police authorities

Word spread about what happened there
Across the country from Haymarket Square
Word spread across the oceans to just about everywhere

That there’d now be a day when simultaneously
On every continent, in every country
All the workers would march together for the world that shall be

The First of May, the First of May – International Workers Day

Every year it’s part of the mix
From now to 1886
To stand against divide and rule, the bosses’ favorite trick

From Chile up to Newfoundland
Galway to Georgia, hand in hand
For at least this one day, it’s One Big Union grand

In the streets, in the parks
From the DRC to Denmark
It may not be a prairie fire, but it’s such a beautiful spark