well my mother never told me what was right or what was wrong
she never taught me to play guitar never taught me to write songs
but one thing that she taught me i'll remember for all time
and that's that you should never walk across a picket line
(Chorus)
oh i would never walk across a picket line
solidarity forever don't mean just sometimes
long live the union! cross my heart and hope to die
if I should ever walk across a picket line
she took me to the factory where the workers were on strike
the company had called in scabs to break the union's might
my mom went to the front and she addressed those greedy swine
said i dare any of you men to walk across this picket line
(Chorus)
well one of them came forward and he had something to say:
no woman will stand between me and one day's pay
i don't care 'bout the others i am taking what is mine
and with that he tried to walk across our picket line
(Chorus)
mom called him a dirty scab and gave him two pieces of her mind
she picked up and she threw every rock that she could find
and when he called the cops on her she kicked his behind
and said that's what you get when you walk across a union's picket line!
(Chorus)
well to this day i can remember what my mother used to say
we're fighting for a better world, not just for better pay
and if we stick together then we'll win this fight in time
so long as we don't walk across each other's picket lines