Friday, December 25, 2015

Labour & Pop Culture: You Won't Stand Alone

This week’s installment of Labour & Pop Culture is DOA’s punk anthem “You won’t stand alone.” There is a fair bit of the usual solidarity rah-rah going on here. 

The most interesting part is this verse, which starts out getting at the anesthetizing effect of popular culture and then transitions into how a loose labour market drives feelings of vulnerability:
They'll line you up to listen in front of the TV
And make you feel lucky 'cause you've something to eat
Then it quickly transitions into a rant against drug testing (punk rockers against workplace drug testing!?!) and the instrumental way that corporations treat their workers.
And you'll pee in a jar just to keep your job
Unless you're downsized like another useless cog
I like a good protest song. It is a bit of a shame that this one didn’t sustain its critique for another verse or two. It is hard to find a decent video to go along with this song.



Time to make a stand, time to have our say
Don't buckle under, get in the way
There's many ears to listen and many hands to help
Time to wake them up and give the liars hell

Well, when your face the storm you won't stand alone
We'll all fight back with every stone
Not just for yourself, we do it for all
Reach out for our help, you won't stand alone

They climb the corporate ladder
They take the kickback
They'd sell out their mother
They can go to hell

They'll line you up to listen in front of the TV
And make you feel lucky 'cause you've something to eat
And you'll pee in a jar just to keep your job
Unless you're downsized like another useless cog

When your face the storm you won't stand alone
We'll all fight back with every stone
Not just for yourself, we do it for all
Reach out for our help, you won't stand alone

They climb the corporate ladder
They take the kickback
They'd sell out their mother
Well, they can go to hell

Time to make a stand, time to have our say
Don't buckle under, get in the way
There's many ears to listen and many hands to help
Time to wake them up and give the liars hell

When your face the storm you won't stand alone
We'll all fight back with every stone
Not just for yourself, we do it for all
Reach out for our help, you won't stand alone

[x2]

You won't stand alone

-- Bob Barnetson

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