Which Side are You On?

Song of the Day 01/13/2023

Which Side are You On? by Florence Reece & Pete Seeger

Irritatingly catchy, with a hymn-like, biblical quality, Which Side Are You On was written in 1931 by the poet Florence Reece, the wife of Sam Reece, a union organizer for the United Mine Workers in Harlan County, Kentucky. The song came out of the 1931 Harlan County War, an ultra-violent, bitter struggle between coal miners and mine owners. 

The conflict began following the Harlan County Coal Operators’ Association’s decision to cut their entire workforce’s wages by ten percent. In response, Sam Reece decided to organize miners across the United States to come and protest in Harlan County. Less than a week later, mass demonstrations ensued.

Typical of American enterprise, all miners with union affiliations were fired and then evicted from the company-owned properties that housed them. This move backfired; a majority of the mining workforce in Harlan County decided to give up everything they had and join the strike in solidarity. Of the twenty-six towns in Harlan, twenty-three were owned by mining companies. Five thousand and eight hundred hungry, homeless workers flocked to Harlan’s three remaining towns, where they were greeted with sympathy, a shared tent, and not much else. Only nine hundred employees remained—strikebreakers, as they were derogatorily deemed by their former comrades. From the standpoint of dignity, one would rather be left with nothing at all than be called a strikebreaker. I also believe that they would rather be left with nothing at all so as long as they never had to enter a mine again. It wasn’t only about the ten percent of wages lost, but the dismal career path many of the workers had been unjustly assigned by birth, while the owners of the mines were left with insurmountable wealth and luxury. 

The movie villain in this story would be J.H. Blair, Harlan County’s Sheriff, noted for his brutal tactics against the striking mine workers, which included beatings and alleged murder. He was also known for his fierce, uncompromising loyalty to the coal companies, who undoubtedly took good care of this pathetic, brute-minded sycophant. 

One evening, J.H. Blair and a group of men knocked through the front door of the union organizer Sam Reece’s house to capture and detain him. Perhaps due to agility developed in the mines, the nimble Reece jumped out of bed with haste and escaped through the back door; he’d been expecting this to happen sooner or later. 

To no avail, J.H. Blair interrogated Reece’s wife, Florence, for hours. She genuinely had no idea as to where her husband escaped. Her children were terrorized and screaming with tears. Blair slapped one of them in the face, before leaving with his men, warning Florence that they’d be back. In a state of utter shock and sadness, Florence Reece picked up her pen and began writing the lyrics to this song. Within days, the impoverished laborers on the frontline started to chant Florence Reece’s tune with devout fervor and belief.

Pete Seeger, a famous folk singer and political activist, began learning labor union songs after becoming inspired by the Harlan County protests. He recorded Which Side Are You On? in 1940, a year after the demonstrations finally ended, and it became somewhat of a hit around the country. A more famous group called the Almanac Singers recorded their own version, enabling the song to gain a wider audience. Though dozens of other famous singers would perform their own takes, Seeger’s version remains the most emotionally memorable, perfectly capturing the solemn yet hopeful tone that Florence Reece no doubt intended while penning the lyrics in great distress, the way one writes down the contents of a nightmare after waking up in a pool of sweat.