1913 Massacre Chords

Standard (EADGBE)

ie, A:

A: X0222X (maybe easier if barred)

Bm'(?):X0443X

A Bm’ A

Take a trip with me in nineteen thirteen

To DCalumet, Michigan, in theG copper countrAy.

Bm’ A

I'll take you to a place called Italian Hall

Where theD miners are hGaving their big ChristmasA ball.

A Bm’ A

I'll take you through a door, and up a high stairs.

SinDging and dancing is Gheard everyAwhere,

Bm’ A

I will let you shake hands with the people you see

And Dwatch the kids dGance round that big Christmas Atree.

Bm’ A

You ask about work and you ask about pay;

TheDy'll tell you that they make less than aG dollar a dAay,

Bm’ A

Working the copper claims, risking their lives,

So it's Dfun to spend GChristmas with children and wAives.

A Bm’ A

There's talking and laughing and songs in the air,

And Dthe spirit of Christmas is Gthere everyAwhere,

Bm’ A

Before you know it, you're friends with us all

And you're Ddancing Garound and around in theA hall.

A Bm’ A

Well, a little girl sits down by the Christmas tree lights

To Dplay the piano, so you Ggotta keep Aquiet.

Bm’ A

To hear all this fun you would not realize

That the Dcopper-boss thuGg-men are milling outsAide.

A Bm’ A

The copper-boss thugs stuck their heads in the door

OneD of them yelled and he screamed, "GThere's a fAire!"

Bm’ A

A lady, she hollered, "There's no such a thing!

Keep on Dwith your Gparty, there's no such a thAing."

A Bm’ A

A few people rushed, and it was only a few

"ItD's only the thugs and the scabs Gfooling yAou."

Bm’ A

A man grabbed his daughter and carried her down

But the Dthugs held theG door and they could not getA out.

A Bm’ A

And then others followed, a hundred or more

ButD most everybody Gremained on the flAoor.

Bm’ A

The gun-thugs they laughed at their murderous joke,

While the Dchildren wereG smothered on the stair by theA door.

A Bm’ A

Such a terrible sight I never did see

We Dcarried our children back Gup to theirA tree.

Bm’ A

The scabs outside still laughed at their spree

And the Dchildren that Gdied there were seventy-Athree.

A Bm’ A

The piano played a slow funeral tune

AndD the town was lit up by a Gcold Christmas Amoon,

Bm’ A

The parents they cried and the miners they moaned,

"See Dwhat your Ggreed for money has Adone."