1913 Massacre
Woody Guthrie
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Take a trip with me in 1913, To Calumet, Michigan, in the copper country. I will take you to a place called Italian Hall, Where the miners are having their big Christmas ball. I will take you in a door and up a high stairs, Singing and dancing is heard everywhere, I will let you shake hands with the people you see, And watch the kids dance around the big Christmas tree. You ask about work and you ask about pay, They'll tell you they make less than a dollar a day, Working the copper claims, risking their lives, So it's fun to spend Christmas with children and wives. There's talking and laughing and songs in the air, And the spirit of Christmas is there everywhere, Before you know it you're friends with us all, And you're dancing around and around in the hall. Well a little girl sits down by the Christmas tree lights, To play the piano so you gotta keep quiet, To hear all this fun you would not realize, That the copper boss' thug men are milling outside. The copper boss' thugs stuck their heads in the door, One of them yelled and he screamed, "there's a fire," A lady she hollered, "there's no such a thing. Keep on with your party, there's no such thing." A few people rushed and it was only a few, "It's just the thugs and the scabs fooling you," A man grabbed his daughter and carried her down, But the thugs held the door and he could not get out. And then others followed, a hundred or more, But most everybody remained on the floor, The gun thugs they laughed at their murderous joke, While the children were smothered on the stairs by the door. Such a terrible sight I never did see, We carried our children back up to their tree, The scabs outside still laughed at their spree, And the children that died there were seventy-three. The piano played a slow funeral tune, And the town was lit up by a cold Christmas moon, The parents they cried and the miners they moaned, "See what your greed for money has done."
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Written by: WOODIE GUTHRIE
Lyrics © BUG MUSIC OBO WOODY GUTHRIE PUBLICATIONS INC
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
7 facts about this song
Historical Context"1913 Massacre" is a protest song penned by folk musician Woody Guthrie. It is based on the Italian Hall disaster that took place on Christmas day in 1913 in Calumet, Michigan. In this tragedy, 73 people, including 59 children, died during a stampede when someone falsely shouted 'fire.'
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InterpretationGuthrie's haunting song tells the story from the perspective of a child attending a Christmas party at the Italian Hall, gradually revealing the tragic outcome.
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InfluenceThe song has been popularized by artists like Bob Dylan, who has often spoken of his admiration for Woody Guthrie. In fact, it's known that Dylan once visited Guthrie in the hospital during the '60s, playing "1913 Massacre" for him.
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CompositionGuthrie wrote "1913 Massacre" in the 1940s as part of his collection of songs associated with labor movements. The song is a ballad that uses the melody of "Wreck of the Old 97," a classic American folk song.
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InstrumentationLike many of Guthrie's songs, "1913 Massacre" features minimal instrumentation, with Woody's emotive vocals accompanied primarily by an acoustic guitar. Central to the song's appeal is his powerful storytelling through his lyrics.
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CriticismSome critics and historians have pointed out factual inaccuracies in "1913 Massacre." Notably, Guthrie's song indicates that the incident was a plot by the copper mine bosses, which remains unproven. Historically, the identity of the individual who caused the panicked stampede by falsely shouting 'fire' has never been confirmed.
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ImpactThe song has played a significant role in keeping the memory of the 1913 calamity alive. A documentary film also titled "1913 Massacre" (2011) explores the event and Guthrie's song about it.
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Citation
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