The complete man. Impossible to imitate, impossible to even dream to follow, impossible to achieve even a hundredth part of what he achieved. Communism is not a theory, it is a way of life. Thanks & Regards.
From son of a former slave to a multi-lettered, multi-lingual, brilliant student at Rutgers, and then a lawyer, (not for long), a phenomenal singer, actor, and political activist. He literally stopped the fighting in Spain when he gave a concert there during the civil war (think it was in '36). He holds the record for his Othello on Broadway; no one actor has ever given more performances in a Shakespearean play. Whatever his flaws, he was a giant of a man...and he was great.
Paul Robeson was such an amazing man. He really did work for the oppressed, for Spanish Republicans, blacks in America, Jews in Germany, union and labor groups, etc. It's a shame that because of his massive anger at the Jim Crow Laws and the brutal conditions inflected on blacks around America that he would actually sympathize with the Communists and totalitarian states like the USSR or Maoist China.
This is a song and this a great singer. Can't we appreciate this American singer for what this is? Paul Robeson has a great voice and this is an interesting historical moment.
Robeson, A Somerville, NJ native, and still controversial subject. Rutgers has the Robeson Campus. But a Loyal American or Communist is still debated.
I'm a union man. My dad was buried with his two most important pins: his Purple Heart from WWII and his gold 50yr Carpenter's Union pin. He kept up his dues for ten years after his retirement to get that pin and kept on paying those dues until he died. It broke his heart and mine aches to this day that my fundamentalist brother is a scab carpenter.
@SirDcitykity when the republicans finally wreck this country and the people take control and thru mass executions put an end to the lousy economy and a communist government forbids the people specially old folks from voting then there will be paradise
Retired from teaching last year. Been in the union for 40 years last May. Younger workers of today in most industries just don't understand or appreciate the importance of the labour movement!
I've listened to Paul Robeson since childhood, and revered him as singer and thinker and great soul. And Joe Hill is among the greatest labor union songs ever written. Joe Hill too was a great soul. With a video like this, we usually respond to the music -- or the message -- I want to acknowledge the powerful images. Great video making!
I am trying to do good work, in the midst of LibDem MPs and councillors...............just remember what Phil Ochs said about "LIberals",,,,,,,,ugh!
But your comment reminds me that I'm not alone. I know there are good people out there, and I need you with me - even if it's only here, on a cyber-page. I need my friends around me now.
I keep hoping todays unions and or labor movement wake up again as they did in the thirties. If there is a Joe Hill today, I wish I knew where he or Mama Jones was. Bring back the wild cat strikes, and unlimited picketing. Todays labor laws pretty much, want strikers to tie both hands behind their backs, and tied ankles also, and say..ok go ahead and see..."you have the freedom to strike"
@grandslam1998 He was such a true humanitarian it can be heard in his voice. Somehow, he always managed to instill a sense of hope and beauty into anything he sang. A truly great human being!
Paul was a shining beacon to all who want a better world and are prepared to fight for it against the odds. A fabulously talented individual he fought for victims of oppression without fear or favour.
My Dad died last week and this was a fovourite song of his we want to play it at his funeral and so I'm trying to download the words fo everyone can have a copy to sing from. Sharon
@jamieheps What a fitting tribute to your dad. That would be one funeral, that would have a special meaning for me. He sounds like the kind of person that deserves to be honored. I was touched by your post. Maybe, its an idea that will catch on, with all pro labor, and or pro union people. May your dad rip, and my condolences .
my father used to play this on the piano - i was so young when i learned this song, such great images..."...i never died said he." thanks for positng.
An injury to one, is an injury to all... When the richest pay the least and people loose their homes and income to line the pockets of 2% of the population... Songs like this should remind us, the fight for fair and a livable wages continues!
Let's hope Murdoch's lying, cheating News International gutterpress all fold up, then the battlers won't be told that protesting is immoral and that they should support the conservative powers that be.
At 0:!4 the picture of Joe Hill. Every time I see it, I see a guy very honest and decent. The kind of guy you will like to have as a friend or leader.
Yeah, the Reagans, Bush's and Thatchers might think they've made words like Socialism unfashionable, but wait until these recessions inevitably cut deeper (as they will) then just watch the lower classes start to protest - and not just in the countries where the West actively URGES the downtrodden (middle-east) to rebel . . . they'd better start watching their own streets . . .
Paul Robeson had to be in my Desert Islands Discs selection - and this was my choice. The voice and the words are unforgettable: but it's hearing them rather than remembering them that makes me weep every time. One song - two heroes.
Paul Robeson was NOT a communist. Do your research. He clearly stated in California in 1946 he was not a communist. He only said that in Russia he felt free of prejudice. He never supported their methods of war and killing. He was always for world peace.Unbelievable that people still think he was anything but a citizen of the world. It was the media and the government that said he was a communist.
@aaauuuummm I didn't mean to assert that he was a communist, only that he had been carefully isolated while in Russia from the negative aspects of the society. One of his friends there supposedly tried to explain to him that what he was seeing was not the real Russia, but could not. And right wingers believe any "citizen of the world" is a communist anyway.
@aaauuuummm Detractors of Paul Robeson smear him to silence people like him who sing the horrible truth of all injustices still being allowed in the USA right now.
Ace, you moron. There are many things worse than "communist." Robeson fell for their baloney, it's true. Millions of Americans are falling for fascist teabagger baloney right now, and that's far worse.
I dunno; I don't think you're miserable: you are certainly correct. I would like to thinl there is one American who thinks like that -- I guess it is you.
Union-busting is commonplace. Makes no difference what they call it.Wisconsin has not only been dishonored by the governor, but he has done great, great harm to the poor. It is sad that the working man will no longer unite with others who are struggling. I can't believe they can be satisfied with part-time jobs, no protection and no health care.
All that spirit, all that faith in certain change. Man, in the 60's we knew it was just around the corner. In truth the bastards still have us by the short and curlies and nothing fundamental has changed in the last 100 years.
Fabulous. Two of my greatest heroes at once. Paul Robeson developed strong links with where I've lived most of my life, &, decades ago, when in Sweden I paid homage to Joe Hilstrom's birthplace in Gavle. Thanks. Kaz
The next 18 months or so are going to be the most crucial time in the labor movement's history in the USA. America is on the ropes and 80% fascist right now. The fascists must be defeated, and the unions are a very big part of the fascists' enemies.
I know the Paul Robeson and Joan Baez are better known, but watch the Isabelleandersson version of I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night which she calls the ballad of Joe Hill, absolutely beautiful.
Paul Robeson - my hero. His treatment in the US was appalling. Workers on the Sydney Opera House still recall his visit, and so do workers at the Midland Railway Workshops who, when he was not allowed to go inside, listened to him outside. A truly great man, not like the small people who try to belittle this giant of a man.
What an incredible voice! He was a Stalinist tool, and the USSR was hardly a worker's paradise for millions banished to labor camps where they were literally worked to death. Still, he was a fascinating man.
People don't always learn the "ultimate" truth in time. But that's no reason not to speak out for what you feel is right. Perhaps one will occasionally be proven wrong.
Is that a reason to condemn a person who acted in good faith?
It is a shame that he never saw the crimes committed by Stalin in the URSS and when asked he brazenly responded that any one sho raised a hand against Comrade Stalin ought to be shot. I symhasize with his struggle for race equality and civil rights in USA. But not as an excuse to be s Stalinist. Either you belive in freedom for all or you are a fake.
I have been a Robeson fan from when I first heard his singing. I bought my first Robeson record in the mid 1950s - a 33 rpm mono. That rendition is a poor comparison to this one. Thank God for the marvels of technology.
What a marvelous voice and what a dedicated and committed humanitarian! And a very idealistic man, to remain true to his principles regardless of the persecution he endured. Does great justice to the song and the spirit of the laboring movement.
The preamble of the Industrial Workers of the World states "It is the historic mission of the working class to do away with capitalism" and, to quote another great american workers' song "which side are you on?"
"My will is easy to decide For there is nothing to divide My kin don't need to fuss and moan "Moss does not cling to a rolling stone." My body? - Oh. - If I could choose I would to ashes it reduce And let the merry breezes blow My dust to where some flowers grow Perhaps some fading flower then Would come to life and bloom again This is my Last and final Will Good Luck to All of you" Joe Hill
Paul Robeson; I live on a small island called Jersey in the channel islands- it's what New Jersey was named after- and I can say without any conceit, you have changed my life. I love you like you were my brother and everything you stood for will live on in me, this I promise you.
Joe Hill, born Joel Emmanuel Hägglund, and also known as Joseph Hillström (October 7, 1879[1] – November 19, 1915) was a Swedish-American labor activist, songwriter, and member of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW, also known as the Wobblies). He was executed for murder after a controversial trial. After his death, he was memorialized by several folk songs.
@CrazyMetalZombie the folk versions of these types of songs i think are made in modern because they lack the classical element of the what is beeing performed
When Paul Robeson visited the building site of the Sydney Opera House,1960, he sang for the workers. They all downed tools, sat around on the scaffolding, listening in silent awe to him. One of them described the feeling as "being in church". And this is one of the songs he sang. The first artist to sing at the Opera House!
At our wedding, there was a bunch of old activists from the thirties. They brought their guitars, and their memories, and they sang the old songs. I requested that they sing "Joe Hill". They gave a silent nod of approval between them, and then they sang the old song.
My friends are not with us anymore. Too bad, because they would have taken heart with where America is heading.
@EbenezerIan123 Long time to reply, but only came across this tonight. I would have loved to see your presentation. Wonderful sentiment. Workers unite. Goodnight comrade.
This brought tears to my eyes, thanks for sharing. It is something special to see a man overlook his personal injustice in order to address a still broader injustice. Paul Robeson was not merely a black man, nor merely an American. He was a human, who saw no color nor gender. In heart and intellect, he was truly a giant.
@rifmountain One only has to look at how the US government destroyed Robeson and how many lynchings were ever prosecuted and therein lies your answer...
Paul Robeson has always been a big hero in my life. Have kept an old newspaper clipping about his death decades ago. A great soul! May he always be remembered.
This man had a voice. . ...and so did Joe.
mallducklard 1 week ago 2
greatings from sweden
jimban86 2 weeks ago
excellent song. video very limited and repetitive.
mpeiranouruguay 2 weeks ago
Don´t mourn - ORGANIZE!!!!
Corsariorubio 3 weeks ago
who else is here for a civil rights project?
shadowflip18 3 weeks ago
@shadowflip18 Believe it or not, some people actually care about Paul Robeson and the labor movement and seek it out on our own.
Anglagard1 1 week ago 2
Who says politics, history, can't be sung?
marioriospinot 1 month ago
this is one of my favorite songs for freedom we must not forget
FelixArie11 1 month ago
Nice version. Luke Kelly's is still the finest IMO.
Larry2me 1 month ago
@Larry2me I cry when I hear luke
covidiencid 1 month ago
The complete man. Impossible to imitate, impossible to even dream to follow, impossible to achieve even a hundredth part of what he achieved. Communism is not a theory, it is a way of life. Thanks & Regards.
dips7246 1 month ago
Many, many THANKS!
solidaritet2010 1 month ago
From son of a former slave to a multi-lettered, multi-lingual, brilliant student at Rutgers, and then a lawyer, (not for long), a phenomenal singer, actor, and political activist. He literally stopped the fighting in Spain when he gave a concert there during the civil war (think it was in '36). He holds the record for his Othello on Broadway; no one actor has ever given more performances in a Shakespearean play. Whatever his flaws, he was a giant of a man...and he was great.
Megahealthgirl 1 month ago 6
what a voice. and what a stellar life this man led.
zzyyxxo 2 months ago
Is this the same Paul Robeson who was president of the NAACP during the thirties or forties? If it is what a personal story!
stephenpyx 2 months ago
I love Paul Robeson because I am a bass singer and a socialist.
mrtyles 2 months ago
'' I feed the poor and they call me a saint, i ask why the poor have no food and they call me a communist'' - Hélder Câmara
RedRepublican1916 2 months ago 8
Paul Robeson was such an amazing man. He really did work for the oppressed, for Spanish Republicans, blacks in America, Jews in Germany, union and labor groups, etc. It's a shame that because of his massive anger at the Jim Crow Laws and the brutal conditions inflected on blacks around America that he would actually sympathize with the Communists and totalitarian states like the USSR or Maoist China.
TheHistorian211 2 months ago
The NATO "rebels" killed you Mo!
GeneralKleberEPR 3 months ago
This is a song and this a great singer. Can't we appreciate this American singer for what this is? Paul Robeson has a great voice and this is an interesting historical moment.
gcpropertymanagement 3 months ago
Robeson, A Somerville, NJ native, and still controversial subject. Rutgers has the Robeson Campus. But a Loyal American or Communist is still debated.
thegunnydog 3 months ago
@thegunnydog He couldn't have been both?
ellitho 3 months ago
Joe Hill was a murderer. He murdered my Great Grandfather while my grandfather watched.
bigade691 3 months ago
@bigade691 Citation Pls.
bobthewatchlizard 1 month ago
communism think its explained in the bible the new testerment is full of it
Evthedrunk 4 months ago
I'm a union man. My dad was buried with his two most important pins: his Purple Heart from WWII and his gold 50yr Carpenter's Union pin. He kept up his dues for ten years after his retirement to get that pin and kept on paying those dues until he died. It broke his heart and mine aches to this day that my fundamentalist brother is a scab carpenter.
SirDcitykity 4 months ago 32
@SirDcitykity The scab is a traitor to his Godm his mother and his class.
BlackKaweah 4 months ago
@SirDcitykity when the republicans finally wreck this country and the people take control and thru mass executions put an end to the lousy economy and a communist government forbids the people specially old folks from voting then there will be paradise
atfatw 6 days ago
Retired from teaching last year. Been in the union for 40 years last May. Younger workers of today in most industries just don't understand or appreciate the importance of the labour movement!
markje4 4 months ago 4
I've listened to Paul Robeson since childhood, and revered him as singer and thinker and great soul. And Joe Hill is among the greatest labor union songs ever written. Joe Hill too was a great soul. With a video like this, we usually respond to the music -- or the message -- I want to acknowledge the powerful images. Great video making!
MerlePsyA 4 months ago 2
@MerlePsyA
I am trying to do good work, in the midst of LibDem MPs and councillors...............just remember what Phil Ochs said about "LIberals",,,,,,,,ugh!
But your comment reminds me that I'm not alone. I know there are good people out there, and I need you with me - even if it's only here, on a cyber-page. I need my friends around me now.
TheCochyn 3 months ago
Without workers, the greedy capitalist pigs could only spared two accounts to dislike this vid.
triken49 4 months ago
pretty good. still prefer the luke kelly version though. also has more views.
/watch?v=Q2OivplOBq8
johnny45irish 4 months ago
Magnificent – the song, the singer and the subject!
silverwhistle 4 months ago 2
Organize!
SteamboatW 4 months ago
Don't mourn, organize!
janeway4u 4 months ago
I keep hoping todays unions and or labor movement wake up again as they did in the thirties. If there is a Joe Hill today, I wish I knew where he or Mama Jones was. Bring back the wild cat strikes, and unlimited picketing. Todays labor laws pretty much, want strikers to tie both hands behind their backs, and tied ankles also, and say..ok go ahead and see..."you have the freedom to strike"
franklikespolitics 4 months ago 4
@franklikespolitics Longshoremen are showing the way. :)
agnosticnixie 4 months ago
what a voice.
1scousers 5 months ago in playlist Paul Robeson mix
It takes more than guns to kill a man! Joe Hill is alive!
grandslam1998 5 months ago 4
@grandslam1998 Haha! Found you here, too. It's the most poignant version of "Joe Hill" I've ever come across.
irynski 5 months ago 5
@irynski I agree PR sings JH with so much feeling. I like him singing Summertime and Lazy Bones, They are much more cheerful.
grandslam1998 5 months ago
@grandslam1998 He was such a true humanitarian it can be heard in his voice. Somehow, he always managed to instill a sense of hope and beauty into anything he sang. A truly great human being!
irynski 5 months ago 4
Paul was a shining beacon to all who want a better world and are prepared to fight for it against the odds. A fabulously talented individual he fought for victims of oppression without fear or favour.
aceggeca 5 months ago 32
Goose bumps.
Workers, unite, now more than ever.
pattreid 5 months ago 4
My Dad died last week and this was a fovourite song of his we want to play it at his funeral and so I'm trying to download the words fo everyone can have a copy to sing from. Sharon
jamieheps 6 months ago 5
@jamieheps What a fitting tribute to your dad. That would be one funeral, that would have a special meaning for me. He sounds like the kind of person that deserves to be honored. I was touched by your post. Maybe, its an idea that will catch on, with all pro labor, and or pro union people. May your dad rip, and my condolences .
franklikespolitics 4 months ago
WOW, WHAT A POST. THE BEST I'VE EVER SEEN AND/OR HEARD.
BETTER THAN ANY MOVIE, MR "LONGJULIAN".
THANK YOU, VERY MOVING.
ELVIS4221 6 months ago
my father used to play this on the piano - i was so young when i learned this song, such great images..."...i never died said he." thanks for positng.
homewardboundnow 6 months ago 2
An injury to one, is an injury to all... When the richest pay the least and people loose their homes and income to line the pockets of 2% of the population... Songs like this should remind us, the fight for fair and a livable wages continues!
NMMojavePoet 6 months ago 4
@neymoura But even more dislike George Bush.
phatcracker2007 6 months ago
Come August and Joe Hill's disciples will throw out the anti-union representatives in Wisconsin.
Solidarity forever!
bilmar1966 6 months ago 3
Let's hope Murdoch's lying, cheating News International gutterpress all fold up, then the battlers won't be told that protesting is immoral and that they should support the conservative powers that be.
MrBazza86 6 months ago
Joe Hill is not dead. He alive in the TU movement. The man Inspires all who want a better society!
grandslam1998 6 months ago
@grandslam1998
TU? Teacher's Union?
janiepdoodle 5 months ago
@janiepdoodle Trade Union.
grandslam1998 5 months ago
Fantastic! Joe Hill and Paul Robeson and those like them show the amazing contribution America could make to the world. Another world is possible.
PartyCommunist 6 months ago 3
At 0:!4 the picture of Joe Hill. Every time I see it, I see a guy very honest and decent. The kind of guy you will like to have as a friend or leader.
calito44 7 months ago
Yeah, the Reagans, Bush's and Thatchers might think they've made words like Socialism unfashionable, but wait until these recessions inevitably cut deeper (as they will) then just watch the lower classes start to protest - and not just in the countries where the West actively URGES the downtrodden (middle-east) to rebel . . . they'd better start watching their own streets . . .
MrBazza86 7 months ago 3
Paul Robeson had to be in my Desert Islands Discs selection - and this was my choice. The voice and the words are unforgettable: but it's hearing them rather than remembering them that makes me weep every time. One song - two heroes.
BioDiplomacy 8 months ago 2
Paul Robeson was NOT a communist. Do your research. He clearly stated in California in 1946 he was not a communist. He only said that in Russia he felt free of prejudice. He never supported their methods of war and killing. He was always for world peace.Unbelievable that people still think he was anything but a citizen of the world. It was the media and the government that said he was a communist.
aaauuuummm 8 months ago
@aaauuuummm I didn't mean to assert that he was a communist, only that he had been carefully isolated while in Russia from the negative aspects of the society. One of his friends there supposedly tried to explain to him that what he was seeing was not the real Russia, but could not. And right wingers believe any "citizen of the world" is a communist anyway.
MiserableOldFart 7 months ago
@aaauuuummm Detractors of Paul Robeson smear him to silence people like him who sing the horrible truth of all injustices still being allowed in the USA right now.
airforcemax 7 months ago 4
"Where worker's strike and organise, it's there you'll find Joe Hill".
laboheme26 8 months ago 2
'Paul Robeson was a communist' - big deal - We need more like him
AtownHustler1 8 months ago
luke kelly's version far superior
bbeattie48 8 months ago
@bbeattie48 Go away.
Nyame30 7 months ago
Where ever on planet earth free men stand up to fight american capitalism they can proudly say: "We are communists"
jockie0706 8 months ago
Ace, you moron. There are many things worse than "communist." Robeson fell for their baloney, it's true. Millions of Americans are falling for fascist teabagger baloney right now, and that's far worse.
MiserableOldFart 9 months ago
@MiserableOldFart
I dunno; I don't think you're miserable: you are certainly correct. I would like to thinl there is one American who thinks like that -- I guess it is you.
2007ablack 7 months ago
Joe Hill, the fat guy from superbad.
iamzero79 9 months ago
A voice that could move mountains
johnmiles 9 months ago 2
And your point is?
oldnewenglander 9 months ago
Gotta be the greatest voice ever.
GoodyThreeShoes 9 months ago 3
Paul Robeson was a Communist.
AcePilot101 9 months ago
@AcePilot101 O horror!
looneyspender 9 months ago 2
@AcePilot101 So was Bertold Brecht. Your point?
thorkelson 9 months ago
@AcePilot101 Read Emma Goldman or go away.
agnosticnixie 8 months ago 2
@AcePilot101 Is that it Ace, your entire contribution?
Verfemdung 7 months ago
@AcePilot101 Define "Communist".
Spartacus21C 4 months ago
Union-busting is commonplace. Makes no difference what they call it.Wisconsin has not only been dishonored by the governor, but he has done great, great harm to the poor. It is sad that the working man will no longer unite with others who are struggling. I can't believe they can be satisfied with part-time jobs, no protection and no health care.
mallducklard 10 months ago 6
There has never been a voice like Robeson's, and we are so lucky to be able to hear him now, reminding us that the struggle continues.
oldnewenglander 10 months ago 4
@oldnewenglander look up this name - Shaliapin, even here on youtube.
looneyspender 9 months ago
All that spirit, all that faith in certain change. Man, in the 60's we knew it was just around the corner. In truth the bastards still have us by the short and curlies and nothing fundamental has changed in the last 100 years.
MrEclecticity 10 months ago 7
We're negotiating and fighting to keep our jobs in the face of Cameron and Clegg's assault on the poor. The struggle continues,
MrFogeyblue 10 months ago 2
Fabulous. Two of my greatest heroes at once. Paul Robeson developed strong links with where I've lived most of my life, &, decades ago, when in Sweden I paid homage to Joe Hilstrom's birthplace in Gavle. Thanks. Kaz
WarphobblerKaz 10 months ago 2
The next 18 months or so are going to be the most crucial time in the labor movement's history in the USA. America is on the ropes and 80% fascist right now. The fascists must be defeated, and the unions are a very big part of the fascists' enemies.
MiserableOldFart 10 months ago
Join the IWW! Its time the others organize again.
kommie27 10 months ago 2
Never let them die.... time again to teach the history.. fight the wealthy censors...
marthakaplanpoetry 10 months ago
Joe and Paul are alive and well in Madison Wisconsin today!
ercjncpr 10 months ago 4
@ercjncpr I came here to say exactly that. And in Michigan. And in Indiana.
libeqsol 10 months ago
I know the Paul Robeson and Joan Baez are better known, but watch the Isabelleandersson version of I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night which she calls the ballad of Joe Hill, absolutely beautiful.
trabby601 11 months ago
1 people are copper mine bosses
joebp91 11 months ago 2
Defeat Walker, defeat Christie, and the rest of that fascist cancer on our society.
MiserableOldFart 11 months ago 4
@MiserableOldFart
Don't forget Michigan and Gov. Snyder!
Larixlaricina 11 months ago 2
my god i had forgotten what an astounding voice this man had
triptoheaveandho 11 months ago 3
one of the greatest voices ever.
mike3k 11 months ago 2
So sorry: I accidentally clicked dislike.
WonderfulWhippet 11 months ago
To our Union brothers and sisters in Wisconsin . . . stick where the sun don't shine Gov Walker!!!
sidDkid87 11 months ago 46
@sidDkid87 I will do my best to study the law as the late Thurgood Marshall did.
airforcemax 7 months ago
what a beautiful voice! exceptional! hanks for posting.
tachuman 11 months ago
Thanks so much for posting this. It's AWESOME!!!
Wow.
Huntgoddessfishery 11 months ago
Thank you for this beautiful tribute!
mindydawn1 11 months ago
A socialist sings about another, and they both knew the truth.
The only freedoms we have are the ones we have struggled for, always under threat from those who would lead us, and tell us otherwise.
grannys14 1 year ago 4
Paul Robeson - my hero. His treatment in the US was appalling. Workers on the Sydney Opera House still recall his visit, and so do workers at the Midland Railway Workshops who, when he was not allowed to go inside, listened to him outside. A truly great man, not like the small people who try to belittle this giant of a man.
CrazyCroneWildWoman 1 year ago 6
What an incredible voice! He was a Stalinist tool, and the USSR was hardly a worker's paradise for millions banished to labor camps where they were literally worked to death. Still, he was a fascinating man.
quantumleap7219 1 year ago
People don't always learn the "ultimate" truth in time. But that's no reason not to speak out for what you feel is right. Perhaps one will occasionally be proven wrong.
Is that a reason to condemn a person who acted in good faith?
gracefulfish 1 year ago
It is a shame that he never saw the crimes committed by Stalin in the URSS and when asked he brazenly responded that any one sho raised a hand against Comrade Stalin ought to be shot. I symhasize with his struggle for race equality and civil rights in USA. But not as an excuse to be s Stalinist. Either you belive in freedom for all or you are a fake.
freirant 1 year ago
Two Great Men!
grandslam1998 1 year ago
MY NAMES JOE HILL!!!!!!!!!!
Jbunkerhill95 1 year ago
I have been a Robeson fan from when I first heard his singing. I bought my first Robeson record in the mid 1950s - a 33 rpm mono. That rendition is a poor comparison to this one. Thank God for the marvels of technology.
LarryGJ101 1 year ago 6
NO War but Class War!
187ichiban 1 year ago 3
Be more International! We ALL Love Joe Hill and: He ain't dead yet!
187ichiban 1 year ago 3
A marvellous performance of an important and moving song.
FENNYMAN 1 year ago 3
Strange how things slip away. I can't remember the last time I looked for the Union Bug on something I bought.
deriter64 1 year ago
Workers of the world unite.
StigandHawkwith 1 year ago 6
What a marvelous voice and what a dedicated and committed humanitarian! And a very idealistic man, to remain true to his principles regardless of the persecution he endured. Does great justice to the song and the spirit of the laboring movement.
geosutube 1 year ago 14
Amazing song! It took my breath away.
"Takes more then guns to kill a man." Wow.
ServantOfYinepu 1 year ago 5
Amazing song! It took my breath away.
ServantOfYinepu 1 year ago 4
@ServantOfYinepu could say the same to the guy who sang this lol
lrishRebeI 1 year ago
The preamble of the Industrial Workers of the World states "It is the historic mission of the working class to do away with capitalism" and, to quote another great american workers' song "which side are you on?"
wid85 1 year ago 2
Comment removed
mattiaslantz 1 year ago
More and more I think about The One Big Union.
pedonbio 1 year ago 3
"The Copper Bosses killed you Joe,
they shot you Joe" says I.
"Takes more than guns to kill a man"
Says Joe "I didn't die"
Says Joe "I didn't die" . . . Robeson rendition of this song gives me chills and this verse brings tears to my eyes . . . workers of the world unite
sidDkid87 1 year ago 44
Union Yes, Union F'ing YES!!!!
sidDkid87 1 year ago
chrisolaf530 1 year ago 5
what a glorious version of one of the greatest labor ballads ever.
bakunin2010 1 year ago 4
we need you now
captspock1 1 year ago
Paul Robeson; I live on a small island called Jersey in the channel islands- it's what New Jersey was named after- and I can say without any conceit, you have changed my life. I love you like you were my brother and everything you stood for will live on in me, this I promise you.
holyhackjackson8 1 year ago 4
Don't mourn me, organize!
egdrake 1 year ago 5
Joe Hill, born Joel Emmanuel Hägglund, and also known as Joseph Hillström (October 7, 1879[1] – November 19, 1915) was a Swedish-American labor activist, songwriter, and member of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW, also known as the Wobblies). He was executed for murder after a controversial trial. After his death, he was memorialized by several folk songs.
elfredo70 1 year ago
Ok girls....this is about Joe Hill
Waterpainter2005 1 year ago
Great men! Great song!
grummeper 1 year ago 3
@grummeper They may kill the Revolutionary but not the Revolution....
malachy1847 1 year ago 3
no words--larkin107 says it best--the iris version is splendid Paul , Joe and Brother Larkin belong to all of us
vivascargill 1 year ago
@vivascargill Thanks Comrade.
Larkin1907 1 year ago
Great man, Great song, Great singer.
NorthAntrimWP 1 year ago
Joe Hill was indeed a great Swede.
karpov89 1 year ago
Magnificent! Very moving.
kashgar22 1 year ago
GREAT SONG! My heros Paul Robeson and Joe Hill ! Workers of the World Unite!
antiracistskin69 1 year ago 9
WHAT A VOICE !
marcxopoco 1 year ago 3
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niggah wahh jensen
breakingbloodvessels 2 years ago
@breakingbloodvessels
lol
HAHA
I made a 'that's what she said' joke in his class and he hit me xD
CrazyMetalZombie 1 year ago
I prefer this version over the original folk version :P
Lol, normally I don't watch these kinds of videos but I have to for a homework assignment in my American Studies class :P
CrazyMetalZombie 2 years ago
@CrazyMetalZombie the folk versions of these types of songs i think are made in modern because they lack the classical element of the what is beeing performed
Brachiale 1 year ago
Fire!
CrazyMetalZombie 2 years ago
Robeson and Hill= REAL American heroes! I shit on the capitalists. Not decorous, I know, but, do Bush and Cheney deserve decorum?
Rakeatthegatesofhell 2 years ago 8
@Rakeatthegatesofhell -
I know, right? :)
MrRedFredSaid 1 year ago
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When Paul Robeson visited the building site of the Sydney Opera House,1960, he sang for the workers. They all downed tools, sat around on the scaffolding, listening in silent awe to him. One of them described the feeling as "being in church". And this is one of the songs he sang. The first artist to sing at the Opera House!
Razaphailex 2 years ago 2
What a voice What a song reduced me to tears
bilyoung20 2 years ago 2
At our wedding, there was a bunch of old activists from the thirties. They brought their guitars, and their memories, and they sang the old songs. I requested that they sing "Joe Hill". They gave a silent nod of approval between them, and then they sang the old song.
My friends are not with us anymore. Too bad, because they would have taken heart with where America is heading.
PlatisYialos 2 years ago 7
I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night,
alive as you and me.
Says I "But Joe, you're ten years dead"
"I never died" says he,
"I never died" says he.
"In Salt Lake City, Joe," says I,
Him standing by my bed,
"They framed you on a murder charge,"
Says Joe, "But I ain't dead,"
Says Joe, "But I ain't dead."
PlatisYialos 2 years ago 4
"The Copper Bosses killed you Joe,
they shot you Joe" says I.
"Takes more than guns to kill a man"
Says Joe "I didn't die,"
Says Joe "I didn't die."
And standing there as big as life
and smiling with his eyes.
Says Joe "What they can never kill
went on to organize,
went on to organize"
PlatisYialos 2 years ago 2
From San Diego up to Maine,
in every mine and mill,
Where working men defend their rights,
it's there you'll find Joe Hill,
it's there you'll find Joe Hill!
I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night,
alive as you and me.
Says I "But Joe, you're ten years dead"
"I never died" says he,
"I never died" says he.
PlatisYialos 2 years ago 2
Gives me goose bumps and tears no matter how many times I hear it: Thank you! Accompanying photos superb!
LindsayCurran 2 years ago 3
You've seen Paul Robeson standing here,
still singing freedom songs.
I cannot cease to sing, he said,
while poor folk suffer wrongs.
McCarthy stopped your mighty voice;
he silenced you, said I.
My freedom songs live on, said he,
Our hopes & dreams don't die.
Written for a presentation:
Paul Robeson - the Man & His Music
EbenezerIan123 2 years ago
@EbenezerIan123 Long time to reply, but only came across this tonight. I would have loved to see your presentation. Wonderful sentiment. Workers unite. Goodnight comrade.
Verfemdung 7 months ago
This brought tears to my eyes, thanks for sharing. It is something special to see a man overlook his personal injustice in order to address a still broader injustice. Paul Robeson was not merely a black man, nor merely an American. He was a human, who saw no color nor gender. In heart and intellect, he was truly a giant.
Anglagard1 2 years ago 2
Very powerful and moving; two exemplary and honorable Americans. We need more people like Joe and Paul today.
gringoflamenco 2 years ago 54
swedish
Isakceim 1 year ago
I fully agree with you buddy very few afro-americans take a stand against the system
rifmountain 1 year ago
@rifmountain One only has to look at how the US government destroyed Robeson and how many lynchings were ever prosecuted and therein lies your answer...
BrickLaneBetty 1 year ago 3
@gringoflamenco Joe Hill was Swedish.
Dumass88 1 year ago 10
@gringoflamenco just that joe hill was swedish :D
knox031 1 year ago
@gringoflamenco That's for sure.
Huntgoddessfishery 11 months ago
POWERFUL- A TRUE AMERICAN !
Shiftyeyes516 2 years ago 5
our vocabulary teacher (im a german student on a translator's school) introduced robeson to us today... his music is awesom
dvade 2 years ago 3
Paul Robeson has always been a big hero in my life. Have kept an old newspaper clipping about his death decades ago. A great soul! May he always be remembered.
goldie0800 2 years ago 4
A great man sings about another great man.
Larkin1907 2 years ago 76
@Larkin1907 could not have said it better!!
vivascargill 1 year ago
@Larkin1907 AMEN.
collectingbees 1 year ago
@Larkin1907 Yes, I agree.
Huntgoddessfishery 11 months ago