Sing-Along Lyrics for Sing Out Shout Out December 2nd

A UNION MADE for CUNY

Lyrics by Andrea Vásquez, original by Woody Guthrie, 1940

There was a university,
for folks like you and me,
It’s been around a century,
But now it is no longer free.

A range of jobs we do,
To help our students through,
We counsel and preach,
and coach and teach,
And the union helps us to…

Chorus:
Oh, you can’t scare me
I’m stickin’ to the union,
I’m stickin’ to the union,
I’m stickin’ to the union,

Oh, you can’t scare me,
I’m sticking to the union,
I’m sticking to the union,
‘Till the day I die!

Our students from east and west,
In them we must invest,
They’re witty and wise,
won’t compromise,
They sure deserve the very best.

In all the roles they play,
Surviving every which-way,
They stand by us in mutual trust,
And this is what they say…

(Chorus)

A contract is to us,
Worthy of a great big fuss,
We’ll strategize and organize,
And wage a mighty fight today!

A budget in disarray,
Is no way to raise our pay,
It’s not a dream, we’ve got a team,
‘Cause we’ve got CRA.*

(Chorus)

The ruling 1%,
SCOTUS, the President,
May try to bust us, eviscerate us,
They will not obliterate us…….

We’ve got history,
Justice, democracy,
We’ll stand as one, in unison,
For we are PSC!

(Chorus)

---

AIN’T GONNA LET NOBODY TURN US AROUND

Author unknown

Ain’t gonna let nobody turn us around,
Turn us around, turn us around,
Ain’t gonna let nobody turn us around,
We’re gonna keep on walkin’,
Keep on talkin’
Marchin’ up to freedom land.

Ain’t gonna let the CUNY bosses..
Turn us around, turn us around,
Ain’t gonna let CUNY bosses turn us around,
We’re gonna keep on walkin’,
Keep on talkin’
Marchin’ up to freedom land.

Ain’t gonna let austerity…
Ain’t gonna let MAGA fascists…
Ain’t gonna let discrimination…
Ain’t gonna let no union busters…

---

SOLIDARITY FOREVER

Ralph Chaplin, 1915

When the union’s inspiration through the workers’ blood shall run,
There can be no power greater anywhere beneath the sun;
Yet what force on earth is weaker than the feeble strength of one,
But the union makes us strong.

Chorus:
Solidarity forever, (x3)
For the union makes us strong.

Is there aught we hold in common with the greedy parasite,
Who would lash us into serfdom and would crush us with his might?
Is there anything left to us but to organize and fight?
For the union makes us strong.

(Chorus)

It is we who plowed the prairies; built the cities where they trade;
Dug the mines and built the workshops, endless miles of railroad laid;
Now we stand outcast and starving midst the wonders we have made;
But the union makes us strong.

(Chorus)

All the world that’s owned by idle drones is ours and ours alone.
We have laid the wide foundations; built it skyward stone by stone.
It is ours, not to slave in, but to master and to own.
While the union makes us strong.

(Chorus)

They have taken untold millions that they never toiled to earn,
But without our brain and muscle not a single wheel can turn.
We can break their haughty power, gain our freedom when we learn
That the union makes us strong.

(Chorus)

In our hands is placed a power greater than their hoarded gold,
Greater than the might of armies, multiplied a thousand-fold.
We can bring to birth a new world from the ashes of the old
For the union makes us strong.

---

Which Side are you on?

Lyrics by Andrea Vásquez, original by Florence Reece, 1931

 

Come on all you good people,
good news we’ll tell,
Of how a CUNY movement can come down here to dwell.

(chorus)

Which side are you on, which side are you on?
Which side are you on, which side are you on?

 

Adjuncts and low paid workers, we’re fighting for our lives,
We’re here to tell you loudly,

that we’re gonna organize.

(chorus)

Students, staff, and faculty,
we wanna make something clear,
We see our university,
>with no place for bias here.

(chorus)

The New Deal for CUNY,
is best for you and me.
Our higher education,
it really should be free,

(chorus)

---

Published: November 30, 2023 | Last Modified: December 1, 2023