Songs of Love and Rebellion/Might is right
MIGHT IS RIGHT
Might was right when Christ was hanged
Beside the Jordan's foam;
Might was right when Gracchus bled,
Upon the stones of Rome;
And might was right when Danton fell,
When Emmet passed away—
"'Tis the logic of the ancient world,
And the gospel of today."
Might was right when Spartacus
Went down in seas of blood,
And when the Commune perished
In the self-same crimson flood;
And might was right at Cripple Creek,
At Homestead, Grabow—yea!
"'Tis the logic of the ancient world,
And the gospel of today."
Might was right when Parsons died,
When Ferrer followed him,
When Cole's young life was beaten out
In Spokane's dungeons grim;
And might was right when Pettibone
Went stagg'ring down death's way—
"'Tis the logic of the ancient world,
And the gospel of today."
Might is right when Morgan builds
A hell 'round every hearth;
Might is right when Kirby starves
His peons off the earth;
And might was right when Deitz became
Wolfe Weyerhauser's prey —
"'Tis the logic of the ancient world,
And the gospel of today."
Might is right when children die
By thousands in the mills,
When jeweled hands reach down and take
The gold their blood distills;
And might is right when maidens give
Their love-dreams up for pay—
"'Tis the logic of the ancient world,
And the gospel of today."
Might was, it is, it e'er will be,
The one and only right;
And so, O hosts of toil, awaken!
O workingmen, unite!
Unite! Unite! For might is right—
'Tis freedom's only way—
"'Tis the logic of the ancient world,
And the gospel of today."