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Joe (He was a Fighter)

from Recollections (2018) by James Dean Cotton

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This is a ballad about my grandfather, a union organizer who fought hard for the right to a living wage.

lyrics

Joe, he was a fighter, defender of the working man.
Rallied up the AFL-CIO.
The miners and the movement, echoes of his hand.
'Cause Joe, he was a fighter, defender of the working man.

Born in Old St. Louie, just north of old Carr Square,
A middle son of recent immigrants.
His father was a tailor, in the tenement's repair.
And he learned the hard way, life ain't ever fair.

Joe, he was a fighter, defender of the working man.
Rallied up the AFL-CIO.
The miners and the movement, the echoes of his hand.
'Cause Joe, he was a fighter, defender of the working man.

I heard he worked at fourteen, as a bookie down on Grand.
I heard he rode the rails for awhile.
I heard came back humbled at the age of 23,
Applied as a pipefitter for Laclede Gas Company.

He organized the miners, organized the rage,
Became the voice of ordinary men.
Lost a wife to cancer, a son to a snowy grade.
He was forty years a leader, in a forty-year crusade.

Joe, he was a fighter, defender of the working man.
Rallied up the AFL-CIO.
The miners and the movement, the echoes of his hand.
Yeah, he was a fighter, defender of the working man.

Instrumental (harmonica, guitar)

He died in Colorado, in the flood of '76.
The Big Thompson claimed 144.
His spirit is the spirit of a living wage demand.
A hell of a fighter, defender of the working man.

Joe, he was a fighter, defender of the working man.
Rallied up the AFL-CIO.
The miners and the movement, still echo through this land.
'Cause Joe, he was a fighter, defender of the working man.

Joe, he was a fighter, defender of the working man.

credits

from Recollections (2018), track released September 13, 2017

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James Dean Cotton Seattle, Washington

James Dean Cotton hails from the Missouri Ozarks where bluegrass and Americana infused an easy, 70's acoustic style. He writes and performs solo and with the acoustic duo, American Sons, in the Seattle area.

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