Union Songs
The Hungry Mile
A song by Geoff Francis & Peter Hicks©1993 Geoff Francis & Peter Hicks- [play]
This old brown building of brick and stone
Was founded on hard times, long ago,
When our fathers' fathers many a while
Did tramp and tramp the Hungry Mile.
After the strike of '17
Our people tasted a bitter defeat,
Though down and beaten, we made this vow,
That we'd never more tramp the Hungry Mile.Chorus:
The lessons were learnt in adversity,
Organised strength became our union's creed.
We came through conflict and we came through trial,
No more to tramp the Hungry Mile.Throughout the '20s our union grew,
Standing together 'gainst the wealthy few,
A shilling here, maybe six pence there,
Fighting for wages and conditions fair.
Came the depression, no jobs to be found,
For each still working there were ten without;
And with faces gaunt, with no frown nor smile,
Once again, they tramped the Hungry Mile.Chorus:
The lessons were learnt in adversity,
Organised strength became our union's creed.
We came through conflict and we came through trial,
No more to tramp the Hungry Mile.Through struggle and solidarity.
We've fulfilled our fathers' fathers dreams,
Today our union is proud and strong,
Defending our rights and victories won.
The years have passed now, and times have changed,
The wharves today, they don't look the same;
But there's challenge yet in the years ahead,
And we'll meet each one in our union's strength.Chorus:
As we look to the future, we'll not forget
The hardships suffered, and the debt
That we owe to those who so many a while
Did tramp and tramp that Hungry Mile.
Notes
Mant thanks to Geoff and Peter for permission to add this song to the Union Songs collection. See also a poem by the same title written by Ernest Antony, a radical poet of the 1930s, and The Hungry Mile And 'Maritime Invisibility' by Rowan Cahill
Find more works by Peter and Geoff in this collection.
Visit the Peter Hicks and Radical Song Book website at http://home.austarnet.com.au/glazfolk/
union songs..........a selection by mark gregory