Union Songs

Get Thee Behind Me, Satan

A song by Mimi Yahn©Mimi Yahn 1990, 2000
(Original by the Almanac Singers, 1941; new verses by Mimi Yahn)

The boss comes up to me with a five-dollar bill,
Says, "Get you some whiskey, gal, and drink your fill."

Chorus
Get thee behind me, Satan,
Travel on down the line.
I am a union woman,
Gonna leave you behind.

The big corporations say their profits are down,
Say they gotta cut our wages or they'll leave this town.
The union busters tell us that we got to realize
That the way to heaven is to privatize.

You know, those plantation bosses wanna work you to death,
But the Avondale workers said, "Enough is enough!"
If you work for the City down in New Orleans
You won't even earn enough for to buy some rice and beans.

The politicians come to us on Labor Day,
Say, "Vote for me and I'll raise your pay."
If anyone should ask you your union to sell,
Just tell him where to go, send him back to Hell.

Notes

Many thanks to Mimi Yahn for permission to add this song to the Union Songs collection. Mimi writes "Chorus and first and last verses by the Almanac Singers, who first sang it for the striking Ford workers in Detroit in 1941."

Find more of Mimi's work in this collection

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union songs..........a selection by mark gregory