I hate the company bosses
I'll tell you the reason why:
They cause me so much suffering
And my dearest friends to die
Oh yes, I guess you wonder
What they have done to me
I'm goin' to tell you, Mister
My husband had TB
Brought on by hard work and low wages
An' not enough to eat
Goin' naked an' hungry
No shoes on his feet
I guess you'll say he's lazy
An' did not want to work
But I must say you're crazy
For work he did not shirk
My husband was a coal miner
He worked an' risked his life
To try to support three children
Himself, his mother and wife
I had a blue-eyed baby
The darlin' of my heart
But from my little darlin'
Her mother had to part
These mighty company bosses
They dress in jewels an' silk
But my darlin' blue-eyed baby
She starved to death for milk
I had a darlin' mother
For her I often cry
But with them rotten conditions
My mother had to die
Well, what killed your mother?
I hear these bosses say
Dead of hard work an' starvation
My mother had to pay
Well, what killed your mother?
Oh tell us if you please
Excuse me, it was pellagry
That starvation disease
They call this the land of plenty
To them I guess it's true
But that's to the company bosses
Not workers like me an' you
Well, what can I do about it
To these men of power an' might?
I tell you company bosses
I'm goin' to fight, fight, fight
What can we do about it
To right this dreadful wrong?
We're all goin' to join the union
For the union makes us strong