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"Which Side Are You On?" is a song written in 1931 by Florence Reece, the wife of Sam Reece, a union organizer for the United Mine Workers in Harlan County, Kentucky. In 1931, the miners and the mine owners of that region were locked in a bitter and violent struggle (called the Harlan County War). In an attempt to intimidate the Reece family, Sheriff J. H. Blair and his men (hired by the mining company) illegally entered their family home in search of Sam Reece. Sam had been warned in advance and escaped, but Florence and their children were terrorized in his place. That night, after the men had gone, Florence wrote the lyrics to "Which Side Are You On?" on a calendar that hung in the kitchen of her home. She took the melody from a traditional Baptist hymn, "Lay the Lily Low", or the traditional ballad "Jack Munro".〔(Which Side Are You On? )〕 Reece supported a second wave of miner strikes circa 1973, as recounted in the documentary ''Harlan County USA''. She and others performed "Which Side Are You On?" a number of times throughout. Reece recorded the song later in life, and it can be heard on the album ''Coal Mining Women''. The song is referred to by Bob Dylan in the song "Desolation Row". It was also the inspiration for the title of Alessandro Portelli's 2011 book on Harlan County's coal mining community. ==Versions by other artists== *The Almanac Singers - ''Talking Union'', in 1941. *Pete Seeger - "Greatest Hits", in 1967. *Spirituál kvintet - ''Za svou pravdou stát'' (Stand Behind Your Truth), translation to Czech language, in "Dostavník 18", 1983 *Dick Gaughan - ''True and Bold'', in 1985. *Deacon Blue - ''Riches & More'', in 1997. *Ella Jenkins - ''Ella Jenkins and a Union of Friends Pulling Together'', in 1999. *Blue Highway - ''Still Climbing Mountains"", in 2001. *Dropkick Murphys - ''Sing Loud, Sing Proud!'', in 2001, and, subsequently ''Live on St. Patrick's Day from Boston, MA'', in 2002. *Anne Feeney - ''Union Maid'', in 2003. *Natalie Merchant - ''The House Carpenter's Daughter'', in 2003. *Silas House - Songs for the Mountaintop, in 2006, and Public Outcry, in 2008. *The Nightwatchman - "Union Town", in 2011. *Ani DiFranco - ''¿Which Side Are You On?'', in 2012. *Panopticon - "Kentucky", in 2012. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Which Side Are You On?」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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