Rogue Valley Independent Media Center

Pacific Northwest Labor Arts Festival 2007

B R A I N * L A B O R * P R O D U C T I O N S, 18.11.2007 21:52

Portland State University
11/10/07--Portland, Oregon

Song #1
"MR BLOCK" by GENERAL STRIKE

PLAY VIDEO

"Mr. Block" Cartoon

An amazing collection of Labor Artists converged in Portland, Oregon in November, 2007 and this report-back consists of a series of video songs which highlight musician performances. This is song #1- "Mr. Block" as performed by the band General Strike. Ernest Riebe’s comic strip "Mr. Block" is about a willfully ignorant and gullible worker. The cartoon appeared in the IWW’s publication "Industrial Worker" in the early part of the twentieth century.

MORE INFORMATION

Pacific Northwest Labor Arts Festival 2007
http://nwlaborarts.org/

"Mr. Block" definition on Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Block

Mr. Block Cartoons
http://vancouver.iww.ca/mrblock.html

General Strike
http://www.generalstrikeband.com

IWW
http://www.iww.org

IWW's publication "Industrial Worker"
http://depts.washington.edu/labhist/laborpress/Industrial_Worker.htm

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Words to the song "Mr Block"

Please give me your attention, I'll introduce to you
A man that is a credit to "Our Red White and Blue,"
His head is made of lumber, and solid as a rock;
He is a common worker and his name is Mr. Block.
And Block he thinks he may
Be President some day.

CHORUS:
Oh Mr. Block, you were born by mistake,
You take the cake, you make me ache.
Tie a rock on your block and then jump in the lake,
Kindly do that for Liberty's sake.

Yes, Mr. Block is lucky; he found a job, by gee!
The sharks got seven dollars, for job and fare and fee.
They shipped him to a desert and dumped him with his truck,
But when he tried to find his job, he sure was out of luck,
He shouted, "That's too raw,
I'll fix them with the law."

Block hiked back to the city, but wasn't doing well.
He said "I'll join the union -- the great A. F. of L."
He got a job next morning, got fired in the night,
He said, "I'll see Sam Gompers and he'll fix that foreman right."
Sam Gompers said, "You see,
You've got our sympathy."

Election day he shouted, "A Socialist for Mayor!"
The "comrade" got elected, he happy was for fair,
But after the election he got an awful shock,
A great big socialistic Bull did rap him on the block.
And Comrade Block did sob,
"I helped him to his job."

The money kings in Cuba blew up the gunboat Maine,
But Block got awful angry and blamed it all on Spain.
He went right in the battle and there he lost his leg.
And now he's peddling shoestrings and is walking on a peg.
He shouts, "Remember Maine,
Hurrah! To hell with Spain!"

Poor Block he died one evening, I'm very glad to state,
He climbed the golden ladder up to the pearly gate.
He said, "Oh Mister Peter, one word I'd like to tell,
I'd like to meet the Astorbilts and John D Rockefell."
Old Pete said, "Is that so?
You'll meet them down below."

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Pacific Northwest Labor Arts Festival 2007