A scab is an animal that walks on his knees
He sniffs every time the bosses sneeze
His back is brawny but his brain is weak
He's just plain stupid with a yellow streak
But if you don't care whose back it is you stab
Go right ahead and be a scab
Are you gonna stick on the line
Till we force the bosses to sign?
This is your fight, brother, and mine
Or would you rather be a scab?
A fink is an animal that smells like a skunk
He's two brackets lower than a punk
He's makes his living on breaking strikes,
Cause busting unions his job he likes
But it gets over you kinda like a [stink]
Go right ahead and be a fink
Are you gonna stick on the line
Till we force the bosses to sign?
This is your fight, brother, and mine
Or would you rather be a fink?
A goon is an animal that's terribly shy
He can't stand to look you in the eye
He rides to work on the cops' coattails
And wears brass knuckles to protect his nails
But if your head is like the hole in a spittoon
Go right ahead and be a goon
Are you gonna stick on the line
Till we force the bosses to sign?
This is your fight, brother, and mine
Or would you rather be a goon?
A stool is an animal with long hairy ears
He runs back with everything he hears
He's no bargain though he can be bought
And though he's slippery he still gets caught
But if your brain's like the rear end of a mule
Go right ahead and be a stool
Are you gonna stick on the line
Till we force the bosses to sign?
This is your fight, brother, and mine
Or would you rather be a stool?
He sniffs every time the bosses sneeze
His back is brawny but his brain is weak
He's just plain stupid with a yellow streak
But if you don't care whose back it is you stab
Go right ahead and be a scab
Are you gonna stick on the line
Till we force the bosses to sign?
This is your fight, brother, and mine
Or would you rather be a scab?
A fink is an animal that smells like a skunk
He's two brackets lower than a punk
He's makes his living on breaking strikes,
Cause busting unions his job he likes
But it gets over you kinda like a [stink]
Go right ahead and be a fink
Are you gonna stick on the line
Till we force the bosses to sign?
This is your fight, brother, and mine
Or would you rather be a fink?
A goon is an animal that's terribly shy
He can't stand to look you in the eye
He rides to work on the cops' coattails
And wears brass knuckles to protect his nails
But if your head is like the hole in a spittoon
Go right ahead and be a goon
Are you gonna stick on the line
Till we force the bosses to sign?
This is your fight, brother, and mine
Or would you rather be a goon?
A stool is an animal with long hairy ears
He runs back with everything he hears
He's no bargain though he can be bought
And though he's slippery he still gets caught
But if your brain's like the rear end of a mule
Go right ahead and be a stool
Are you gonna stick on the line
Till we force the bosses to sign?
This is your fight, brother, and mine
Or would you rather be a stool?
Contributed by Dead End - 2012/9/26 - 14:19
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Sulla melodia della famosa “Swinging on a Star”, una delle canzoni della colonna sonora di “Going My Way”, film del 1944 per la regia di Leo McCarey con Bing Crosby.
Testo trovato su “American Folksongs of Protest” di John Greenway, 1953.
Parodia di un brano famoso nata durante un grande sciopero ad Hollywood nel 1948, all’epoca delle prime “blacklist” anticomuniste e dopo l’introduzione del “Taft-Hartley Act”, la legge federale che mirava a ridimensionare i diritti dei lavoratori e l’azione delle organizzazioni sindacali e da queste subito significativamente ribattezzata “Slave-labor Bill”. L’allora presidente Truman solo formalmente si oppose a questa legge liberticida ma poi, nel corso dei suoi mandati (1945-1953), vi ricorse sistematicamente (si veda al proposito anche Reconversion Blues di Louis Jordan).
“Scab”, da tradursi letteralmente come crosta o scabbia, è un appellativo riservato allo “strikebreaker”, al crumiro, così come “Fink”, carogna…
“Goon”, stupido, cretino, ma anche il picchiatore tutto muscoli e spranga al servizio del padrone…
“Stool”, da tradursi letteralmente come pezzo di merda, è l’epiteto riservato alla spia…