I hate the company bosses

I'll tell you the reason why

They cause me so much suffering

And my dearest friends to die

Oh yes I guess you wonder

What they have done to me

I'm going to tell you mister

My husband had T B

Brought on by hard work and low wages

And not enough to eat

Going naked and hungry

No shoes on his feet

I guess you'll say he's lazy

And did not want to work

But I must say you're crazy

For work he did not shirk

My husband was a coal miner

He worked and risked his life

To try to support three children

Himself his mother and wife

I had a blue-eyed baby

The darling of my heart

But from my little darling

Her mother had to part

These mighty company bosses

They dress in jewels and silk

But my darling blue-eyed baby

She starved to death for milk

I had a darling mother

For her I often cry

But with them rotten conditions

My mother had to die

Well what killed your mother

I heard these bosses say

Dead of hard work and starvation

My mother had to pay

Well what killed your mother

Oh tell us if you please

Excuse me it was pellagra

That starvation disease

They call this the land of plenty

To them I guess it's true

But that's to the company bosses

Not workers like me and you

Well what can I do about it

To these men of power and might

I tell you company bosses

I'm going to fight fight fight

What can we do about it

To right this dreadful wrong

We're all going to join the union

For the union makes us strong

I Hate the Company Bosses - Sarah Ogan Gunning