1913 Massacre
Tragedy Unveiled: 1913 Christmas Ball in Calumet
Lyrics
Take a trip with me in 1913,
Invitation to travel back to 1913
To Calumet, Michigan, in the copper country.
Location in Calumet, Michigan, in the copper country
I will take you to a place called Italian Hall,
Reference to Italian Hall where miners celebrate Christmas
Where the miners are having their big Christmas ball.
Miners enjoying a Christmas ball
I will take you in a door and up a high stairs,
Entering the hall, festive atmosphere
Singing and dancing is heard everywhere,
Music and dance fill the air
I will let you shake hands with the people you see,
Introduction to the people in the celebration
And watch the kids dance around the big Christmas tree.
Observing children dancing around the Christmas tree
You ask about work and you ask about pay,
Inquiring about work and pay
They'll tell you they make less than a dollar a day,
Miners' low wages, less than a dollar a day
Working the copper claims, risking their lives,
Risking lives in copper mining
So it's fun to spend Christmas with children and wives.
Contrast of the hardships with the joy of Christmas
There's talking and laughing and songs in the air,
Festive atmosphere with talking, laughing, and songs
And the spirit of Christmas is there everywhere,
Christmas spirit pervades the scene
Before you know it you're friends with us all,
Building friendships
And you're dancing around and around in the hall.
People dancing together in the hall
Well a little girl sits down by the Christmas tree lights,
Child playing the piano by Christmas lights
To play the piano so you gotta keep quiet,
Need for silence to enjoy the festivities
To hear all this fun you would not realize,
Unawareness of danger outside
That the copper boss' thug men are milling outside.
Copper boss' men lurking outside
The copper boss' thugs stuck their heads in the door,
Copper boss' thugs enter and claim a fire
One of them yelled and he screamed, "there's a fire,"
Panic caused by false fire alarm
A lady she hollered, "there's no such a thing.
Denial of the fire by a lady
Keep on with your party, there's no such thing."
Encouragement to continue the party
A few people rushed and it was only a few,
People rushing, realizing the false alarm
"It's just the thugs and the scabs fooling you,"
Thugs and scabs trying to deceive
A man grabbed his daughter and carried her down,
Father trying to rescue his daughter
But the thugs held the door and he could not get out.
Thugs preventing escape
And then others followed, a hundred or more,
More people joining the chaos
But most everybody remained on the floor,
Many remaining on the floor, unaware
The gun thugs they laughed at their murderous joke,
Mocking laughter of the gun thugs
While the children were smothered on the stairs by the door.
Children being trampled near the door
Such a terrible sight I never did see,
Witnessing the tragic scene
We carried our children back up to their tree,
Carrying dead children back to the Christmas tree
The scabs outside still laughed at their spree,
Scabs outside indifferent to the tragedy
And the children that died there were seventy-three.
Seventy-three children dead
The piano played a slow funeral tune,
Piano playing a funeral tune
And the town was lit up by a cold Christmas moon,
Town illuminated by a cold Christmas moon
The parents they cried and the miners they moaned,
Parents grieving, miners mourning
"See what your greed for money has done."
Condemnation of greed for money
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