Albert Parsons fled north to Wisconsin to hide out after the Haymarket events. The Chicago Police were rounding up any and all anarchists and labor leaders for the crimes.
I imagined this as his last letter from prison, one of the few things in the May Day set of songs I didn't lift from actual speeches and writings. Some details are true though, Parsons stopped using black hair dye and lived under another identity.
Death Letter
It's Chicago's death row for me now
but they allowed this last letter
it was the hope of some justice that turned me back
i should have known better
kiss me, i don't know when or if i'll see you again
flee north to another town, let my hair grow white
take on another name and start another life
kiss me, i don't know when or if i'll see you again
this place will make you a tyrant or they'll have you a slave
i'll stand with you here in between as long as i may
Neither god nor chance can save me now
but they allowed this last letter
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
May Day 5
It's been a while since I've posted things here - even longer since I started the May Day series of postings. So, since it's "labor day" weekend...
The May Day vinyl album is out in stores and the tracks will be available soon on the internet as well.
Here's what Chris King thought about the demo version
http://confluencecity.blogspot.com/2008/12/rakel-and-rat-take-on-haymarket-in.html
Side B - I sang the first three lines of this one at a band practice with Glenn Burleigh and knew this song was written for The Union Electric too. There are two versions already released on LP and CD by the May Day Orchestra but I've recorded yet another for a Union Electric release.
The subtitle and repeated lines "this land is not free, only for fools" comes from one of the Haymarket martyrs' writings. Several of the lines are also taken from Louis Lingg, most notably his protest to the judge of his sentence in court which ended with the line "I despise you, hang me for it".
Sentence (this land is not free)
if the police didn't surpress us, we wouldn't have to speak up
if they didn't attack us, we wouldn't have to fight back
if our rights weren't violated there'd be no reason to rebel
this land is not free, only for fools
I don't recognize your law
I don't find you honorable
I despise you, hang me for it
The system is brutal and so are its thugs
they only know force, they only know violence
this land is not free, only for fools
why waste words, like carrying water to the sea
learn to use explosives ... set yourself free
The May Day vinyl album is out in stores and the tracks will be available soon on the internet as well.
Here's what Chris King thought about the demo version
http://confluencecity.blogspot.com/2008/12/rakel-and-rat-take-on-haymarket-in.html
Side B - I sang the first three lines of this one at a band practice with Glenn Burleigh and knew this song was written for The Union Electric too. There are two versions already released on LP and CD by the May Day Orchestra but I've recorded yet another for a Union Electric release.
The subtitle and repeated lines "this land is not free, only for fools" comes from one of the Haymarket martyrs' writings. Several of the lines are also taken from Louis Lingg, most notably his protest to the judge of his sentence in court which ended with the line "I despise you, hang me for it".
Sentence (this land is not free)
if the police didn't surpress us, we wouldn't have to speak up
if they didn't attack us, we wouldn't have to fight back
if our rights weren't violated there'd be no reason to rebel
this land is not free, only for fools
I don't recognize your law
I don't find you honorable
I despise you, hang me for it
The system is brutal and so are its thugs
they only know force, they only know violence
this land is not free, only for fools
why waste words, like carrying water to the sea
learn to use explosives ... set yourself free
Friday, June 5, 2009
Some relatively new songs
The Union Electric has a web page at www.myspace.com/theunionelectric
Demo versions have been posted.
The songs up on the internet right now include "Sentence", a rock version of a song I wrote for the May Day Orchestra, based on the trial testimony of Louis Lingg.
"Ship Out Of Luck" is based on Bascom Lamar Lunsford's "Mermaid Song" but our version is about a pirate ship and mutiny.
Finally "Day Of The Dead" is a short number inspired by a sarcastic yet firmly existentialist quote by Samuel Beckett.
Demo versions have been posted.
The songs up on the internet right now include "Sentence", a rock version of a song I wrote for the May Day Orchestra, based on the trial testimony of Louis Lingg.
"Ship Out Of Luck" is based on Bascom Lamar Lunsford's "Mermaid Song" but our version is about a pirate ship and mutiny.
Finally "Day Of The Dead" is a short number inspired by a sarcastic yet firmly existentialist quote by Samuel Beckett.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Ota Benga
Ota Benga was a pygmy that lived in a zoo for a time. I couldn't make this up. He appeared at the World's Fair in Saint Louis in 1904 after being captured from the Congo. He was put on display in the anthropology exhibit at the Fair, his alternative being a life of dodging the mercenaries of King Leopold and various Belgian traders.
Roger Casement, an Irishman, visited the Congo and wrote a report about the atrocities he saw in Africa. This subsequently led to worldwide indictments of Leopold's colonial exploits. Ota Benga's family was among those killed in the years of genocide. He thought the white men from the US came from the land of the dead to take him back with them, so he went.
These are the major characters, both orphans, of my next Folk Opera, to be performed by The May Day Orchestra and the adjunct Ota Benga Family Band. Some of the other historical figures that enter the story are William Henry Sheppard, Henry Morton Stanley and Joseph Conrad.
Ultimately, in 1916, both protagonists died. Roger Casement, involved in the World War as well as the Irish independence movement, was executed for treason at the hands of the British. Ota Benga committed suicide after living twelve years in his strange new home.
More on this later.
Roger Casement, an Irishman, visited the Congo and wrote a report about the atrocities he saw in Africa. This subsequently led to worldwide indictments of Leopold's colonial exploits. Ota Benga's family was among those killed in the years of genocide. He thought the white men from the US came from the land of the dead to take him back with them, so he went.
These are the major characters, both orphans, of my next Folk Opera, to be performed by The May Day Orchestra and the adjunct Ota Benga Family Band. Some of the other historical figures that enter the story are William Henry Sheppard, Henry Morton Stanley and Joseph Conrad.
Ultimately, in 1916, both protagonists died. Roger Casement, involved in the World War as well as the Irish independence movement, was executed for treason at the hands of the British. Ota Benga committed suicide after living twelve years in his strange new home.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
The Reviews Are In ...
The Union Electric is made up of well-known St. Louis musician Tim Rakel, Glenn Burleigh, and Eric Stockman. While the Union Electric has only been performing for a short time, their music has generated a strong reaction, but not from music critics. Strangely, while their pairing of pro-worker lyrics and country/folk influenced song writing has yet to gain them musical acclaim, it has ignited a firestorm on America’s political right.
Some excerpts follow:
“After years of warning my collegues, it is my hope that the emergence of yet another left-wing country band, The Union Electric, will finally convince my fellow members of congress that it is necessary to pass my bill, H.R. 9875, more commonly known as the “Screw Jay Farrar and Steve Earle Act of 2009”.”
-Republican House Whip, Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia
“The fact that The Union Electric, made up of documented anti-freedom activists Tim “May Day” Rakel, Glenn “All Power to the Soviets” Burleigh, and Eric “Von Damage” Stockman, are allowed to perform in pubic, is reason enough for Texas to secede from the Union.”
-Texas Governor Rick Perry
“ACORN!”
-RNC Chair Michael Steel
“The longer The Union Electric is allowed to perform, the more states will legalize gay marriage. It’s that simple. Both are abominations, affronts to God, and both must be stopped.”
-Pat Robertson
“It is well known that members of The Union Electric own copies of both the Communist Manifesto and the Qu’ran. The fact that these “musicians” are allowed to pollute the hearts and minds of American citizens stands as proof that the way of life that our fighting men and women have died for is in danger of extinction.”
-Fox News’ Glenn Beck
“There are two primary threats to western civilization. One is the Employee Free Choice Act, which would allow workers to freely choose to join a union, free of employer intimidation and firings. The other is The Union Electric.”
-US Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Tom Donohue
“When I hear bands like The Union Electric, I have no doubt as to why we are losing the War on Drugs.”
-Former First Lady Nancy Reagan
Some excerpts follow:
“After years of warning my collegues, it is my hope that the emergence of yet another left-wing country band, The Union Electric, will finally convince my fellow members of congress that it is necessary to pass my bill, H.R. 9875, more commonly known as the “Screw Jay Farrar and Steve Earle Act of 2009”.”
-Republican House Whip, Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia
“The fact that The Union Electric, made up of documented anti-freedom activists Tim “May Day” Rakel, Glenn “All Power to the Soviets” Burleigh, and Eric “Von Damage” Stockman, are allowed to perform in pubic, is reason enough for Texas to secede from the Union.”
-Texas Governor Rick Perry
“ACORN!”
-RNC Chair Michael Steel
“The longer The Union Electric is allowed to perform, the more states will legalize gay marriage. It’s that simple. Both are abominations, affronts to God, and both must be stopped.”
-Pat Robertson
“It is well known that members of The Union Electric own copies of both the Communist Manifesto and the Qu’ran. The fact that these “musicians” are allowed to pollute the hearts and minds of American citizens stands as proof that the way of life that our fighting men and women have died for is in danger of extinction.”
-Fox News’ Glenn Beck
“There are two primary threats to western civilization. One is the Employee Free Choice Act, which would allow workers to freely choose to join a union, free of employer intimidation and firings. The other is The Union Electric.”
-US Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Tom Donohue
“When I hear bands like The Union Electric, I have no doubt as to why we are losing the War on Drugs.”
-Former First Lady Nancy Reagan
Monday, April 13, 2009
Record Store Day
originally posted 4/13 and updated 4/23
Hey everyone -
The May Day Orchestra 12" record was made available for Record Store Day this past Saturday, April 18.
Record Store is a fictional holiday created to help save the dying independent record stores throughout the country.
My friend Robert Sarazin Blake and I played at Vintage Vinyl on the sidewalk in front of the store. Sanctioned busking in University City. They even had a PA and a sound man. Thanks to everyone who stopped and listened.
A-Pop and Euclid Records also had live bands that day. I caught part of the A-Pop sets, which were very cool.
Anyway, the May Day record is out at those three record stores as well as Black Bear Bakery. It will also be available at two gigs next week. The May Day Orchestra returns to Black Bear Bakery on May 1 and will play at City Art Supply the following evening as well.
Firecracker Press made some special posters that will be sold with the record while supplies last.
Sarazin Blake says it best, don't buy our record because we need the money, buy our record because it's a good one.
thanks for your support
Hey everyone -
The May Day Orchestra 12" record was made available for Record Store Day this past Saturday, April 18.
Record Store is a fictional holiday created to help save the dying independent record stores throughout the country.
My friend Robert Sarazin Blake and I played at Vintage Vinyl on the sidewalk in front of the store. Sanctioned busking in University City. They even had a PA and a sound man. Thanks to everyone who stopped and listened.
A-Pop and Euclid Records also had live bands that day. I caught part of the A-Pop sets, which were very cool.
Anyway, the May Day record is out at those three record stores as well as Black Bear Bakery. It will also be available at two gigs next week. The May Day Orchestra returns to Black Bear Bakery on May 1 and will play at City Art Supply the following evening as well.
Firecracker Press made some special posters that will be sold with the record while supplies last.
Sarazin Blake says it best, don't buy our record because we need the money, buy our record because it's a good one.
thanks for your support
Monday, April 6, 2009
A Union Electric
A new band called The Union Electric debuts next Saturday, April 18, at Off Broadway in Saint Louis. My friend Eamon Toney from the band Bridgeton Air Defense came up with the name, which we used for one short set when his band backed me up.
The Union Electric features Glenn Burleigh, former bass player of The Adversary Workers, and Eric Von Damage, former drummer of The Adversary Workers and Corbeta Corbata as well as Bunnygrunt's current drummer. Our first bunch of songs include re-arranged material from Bad Folk and The May Day Orchestra as well as some new songs.
We will share the stage with our friend Robert Sarazin Blake, from Bellingham, Washington. Look his records up through his labels Same Room Records and Art Of The Underground.
The Union Electric features Glenn Burleigh, former bass player of The Adversary Workers, and Eric Von Damage, former drummer of The Adversary Workers and Corbeta Corbata as well as Bunnygrunt's current drummer. Our first bunch of songs include re-arranged material from Bad Folk and The May Day Orchestra as well as some new songs.
We will share the stage with our friend Robert Sarazin Blake, from Bellingham, Washington. Look his records up through his labels Same Room Records and Art Of The Underground.
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