Rest, Papa Rest

George Mann
|  April 1, 2008


Photo: Howard Goldbaum. Click to enlarge.

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The title of this tune comes from the inscription on a gravestone in the miner's section of the giant cemetery in Virginia City, Nevada.

Says George:

I wouldn't necessarily say the gravestone 'inspired' the song; the town and the story of the Comstock Lode and the Western Federation of Miners all 'inspired' the song... the stone gave me the title and the idea for the story line, i.e., the children are talking about/to their father, a miner in those times....

I wrote the song in one sitting in Ukiah, California, two days after visiting Virginia City and learning about the miners' struggle there.



Rest, Papa Rest

Rest, Papa rest, the work is finally done.
The whistle and the wind have blown, the moon has chased the sun,
The babes are fed, the rent is paid, our union contract's won,
So rest tonight, Papa rest.

For twenty years you labored in Virginia City's mines.
For twenty years you rarely saw the afternoon sunshine.
The gold dust bled into your lungs -- you said better yours than mine,
So rest tonight, Papa rest.

God bless the miner's union for the work that they have done,
But it's a constant battle to protect what we have won.
For the bosses start to thinking they have got us on the run,
When we rest, Papa when we rest.

Your fingernails are clean, the boots are off your feet.
Coyotes sing a lonely song as you enjoy your sleep.
They might have beat your body but your soul they can't
      defeat,
So rest tonight, Papa rest.

God bless the miner's union for the work that they have done,
But it's a constant battle to protect what we have won.
For the bosses start to thinking they have got us on the run
When we rest, Papa when we rest.

So lay down tonight, you needn't have a care.
The union that you fought to build is standing tall down there
You saw gold and silver when we didn't have a prayer,
So rest tonight, Papa rest.

I'll come to you with gratitude for all the years you slaved,
I'll come to you with thanks for all the dollars that you saved,
I'll come to you each Sunday to put flowers on your grave,
So rest tonight, Papa rest.
Rest tonight, Papa rest.
Rest tonight, Papa rest.


Mining and Safety on the Comstock Lode

The Comstock Lode was the first major U.S. deposit of silver ore on the eastern slope of Mt. Davidson, a peak in the Virginia range. After it was made public in 1859, prospectors rushed to the area which became a bustling center of fabulous wealth.

Unlike most silver ore deposits, which occur in long thin veins, those of the Comstock occurred in discrete masses often hundreds of feet thick. The ore was so soft it could be removed by shovel. Although this allowed it to be easily excavated, the weakness of the surrounding material resulted in frequent and deadly cave-ins. Square-set timbering eventually solved this problem.

Miner working inside the Comstock Mine, Virginia City, Nev. Taken by Timothy H. O'Sullivan using the glare of burning magnesium for a flash of light, 1867--68. 77-KS-1-15. Click to enlarge.

Early in the Comstock history, there were heavy flows of water to contend with. This called for pumping machinery and apparatus, and as greater depth was attained, larger pumps were demanded. Initially, the water was cold, but the deeper workings cut into parts of the vein where there were heavy flows of hot water. This water was hot enough to cook an egg or scald a miner to death almost instantly. Lives were lost by falling into sumps of this water hot from the vein. The hot water called for fans, blowers and various kinds of ventilation apparatus, as miners working in heated drifts had to have a supply of cool air.

The Comstock Unions

The first miners' unions of the American West were those on the Comstock Lode. In 1863, four years after the discovery, underground miners attempted to unionize. During the formative period of unionization in and around the mines, disputes between corporate capital and organized labor soon led to confrontations, particularly over the four-dollar-a-day wage and closed-shop issues. Blacklisting by the mining companies and a show of military force, directed by the Nevada Territorial Governor (a mine owner) in 1864, inaugurated a heritage of conflict in the western hardrock-mining industry that continued well into the twentieth century.

While militant in their tactics, the unions of Virginia City, Gold Hill, and Silver City accepted the basic tenets of a capitalistic, industrial economy. The union miners discovered, following their initial setbacks, that the means to power in a locality dominated by one industry was to influence or control essential elements of local government through the ballot and volunteerism -- especially in law enforcement, fire protection, and the militia. In this they were quite successful.

Labor Notes doesn't think much of business unionism -- particularly where it is infused with militant nativist (anti-Chinese) sentiment as these unions were.

But we have to give them their due. Ultimately, they succeeded in wresting basic concessions involving wages, working conditions, and union security from the absentee-owned mining corporations, because they were able to maintain community support during times of dispute and negotiation. A strike could paralyze commerce, and flood the deep mines by stopping the pumps, exciting the stock market into a selling frenzy. Absorbing the lessons from their earlier confrontations with mine owners, the unions pursued coercive tactics directed at management.

Despite the underlying industrial tension, the miners and their unions were an integral part of Comstock social and civic life, sponsoring or supporting numerous public events, the only public library, and a private hospital in Virginia City.

Their efforts established the general pattern of union organization and labor-management relations throughout the mining West for decades. Almost without exception new unions in California, Dakota, Colorado, Arizona, and Montana adopted the constitution and bylaws of a Comstock union with but little revision.

Beginning in the early 1880s, the focus of union activity in the western mining industry shifted elsewhere as the Comstock rapidly declined. No representative from the Comstock unions attended the organizational meeting of the Western Federation of Miners in Butte Montana in 1893.

There was a vivid contrast between the socialism of the WFM and its anarchosyndicalist ally the Industrial Workers of the World, and the more traditional industrial unionism of the Comstock miners' unions.

Three years later the Comstock unions did join the WFM. They stayed with it until their demise in the 1920s.


Personnel: Marty Confurius, double bass, cellos, string arrangements; George Mann, acoustic guitars, e-bows, lead vocals, sound; Annie O'Shea, lead and harmony vocals; Joe Jencks, harmony vocals; Alan Podber, harmonica; Mark Urselli, sound.


From George Mann's new solo CD, Into the Fire. Buy it online. More information: George Mann Music or GeorgeAndJulius. Email georgemann [at] att [dot] net to get on the mailing list for George Mann and Julius Margolin releases and info. George is a member of AFM Local 1000.

Thanks to Guy Louis Rocha for his assistance with the historical material, taken mainly from his article The Many Images of the Comstock Miners' Unions. Mt. Davidson photo courtesy of Online Nevada Encyclopedia. Other historical material was provided by Wikipedia. Thanks also to the Comstock Cemetery Foundation for guidance around the Virginia City gravesites.


 

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    December 1, 2005

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    Nineteenth century robber barons Jay Gould and J.P. Morgan are among the 25 richest Americans ever. Both are said to have boasted "I can...
  • Radio, Guns, and Money
    Davis Gloff, Michael Carluccio, Larry Schrock
    November 1, 2005

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    Set in the 1930s, the opera Forgotten tells the story of Lewis Bradford, a minister and radio host with a vision of "labor peace" who goes...
  • The Pageant of the Paterson Silk Strike
    Chris Chandler
    October 1, 2005

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    On January 27, 1913, 800 broad silk weavers walked off the job at the Henry Doherty plant, one of Paterson's largest and most modern silk...
  • We Were There
    Brooklyn Women's Chorus
    September 1, 2005

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    We Were There is a theme song that was written for a multi-media show by the same name, about Women's labor history.
  • Shut'cha Down
    Anne Feeney
    August 1, 2005

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    When United Airline's stock became worthless workers said "Well at least we have the wonderful pension." But the federal bankruptcy court...
  • La Tierra
    Francisco Javier Herrera
    July 1, 2005

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    The immigrant brings a connection to the land of deep roots.
  • He Lies In The American Land
    Si Kahn
    June 1, 2005

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    In 1947, after Pete Seeger had finished a concert for the International Workers' Order near Pittsburgh, Andrew Kovaly sang him this song.
  • Mother's Day
    Luci Murphy, Pam Parker
    May 1, 2005

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    Written at the request of Luci Murphy, in 1984 for a Mother's Day rally.
  • Memoirs of Bernardo Vega
    Angel Martinez
    April 1, 2005

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    In every factory there was a committee in charge of raising funds for the Antillean revolution. There were even some Spanish cigar makers...
  • We Speak Louder Than Machines
    Pam Parker
    March 1, 2005

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    From the jazz opera, Forgotten: Murder at the Ford Rouge Plant, written and arranged by Steve Jones
  • Troublemaker
    Maria Dunn
    February 1, 2005

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    Inspired by more recent struggles in the lives of working people in Alberta.
  • Troublemakers Theme
    The Troublemakers
    January 1, 2005

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    Just in time to celebrate the publication of Troublemakers Handbook 2, here comes the Troublemakers, multiplying activist -- and danceable...
  • Christmas In Mansfield
    Joe Jencks
    December 1, 2004

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    Steelworkers Local 169's troubles with AK Steel started in August 1999. The local was negotiating a new contract with the company's...
  • A Capella Banjo
    Kelly Wideman
    November 1, 2004

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    "This song means a lot to me, and I hope it does to you...."
  • I'm George W
    George Mann
    October 1, 2004

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    Featuring a brilliant, never-before-attempted bowed-saw / kazoo duet, and George W's personal pledge of allegiance.
  • What Will I Leave Behind / If I Had A Golden Thread
    Laurel Blaydes, Joe Jencks, Chapman Zon
    September 1, 2004

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    At the June 2004 Great Labor Arts Exchange. . . This is for Victor Reuther, Millie Jeffries, Marilyn Majors, Eddie Starr, Hedy Hilburn....
  • The 1910 Spokane Free Speech Fight
    Utah Phillips
    August 1, 2004

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    . . . That's when I met Herb Edwards. Herb Edwards lived in West Seattle. He was an old IWW organizer, and a Norwegian immigrant. . . ....
  • I Hate Wal-Mart
    Dave Lippman
    July 1, 2004

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    Brought 6,000 jobs back to South Carolina  /  For a whole 6 months, then sent 'em back to China  /  Where they work 12...
  • Unemployment Compensation Blues
    Finland Station
    June 1, 2004

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    Written in 1949 and recorded in 1989, this timeless tune speaks of Thorazine. Today the drug choices have multiplied.
  • What It's Like
    John McCutcheon
    May 1, 2004

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    In 1985 UFCW Local P-9 struck the Hormel meatpacking plant in Austin, Minnesota. The local waged a determined two-year fight, taking on the...
  • A Little A' This 'N' That
    Pete Seeger, Tao Rodriguez-Seeger
    April 1, 2004

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    My grandma, she can make a soup, / with a little a' this 'n' that. / She can feed the whole sloop group, / with a little a' this 'n' that...
  • Moving Day / We Shall Not Be Moved
    Charlie King, Karen Brandow
    March 1, 2004

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    Fred Stanton got the idea for this song from labor activist Bob Peters in Clive, Iowa, who sent him a story about an eviction in a working-...
  • Solidarity
    Fruit Of Labor
    February 1, 2004

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    This song debuted in the Southern Capitol City of Raleigh in 2001, at the first ever National Union Convention in the State of North...
  • Time To Ring Some Changes
    Tom Juravich
    January 1, 2004

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    This old country's tumbling down / Walls are gone but the roof is sound / Government's deaf, they can never be found / Time to ring some...
  • War On The Workers
    Anne Feeney
    December 1, 2003

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    Anne Feeney went to the Staley picket line 20 times from her home in Pittsburgh, was arrested once, and sang union fund-raising concerts all...
  • Hospital Workers
    Rebel Voices
    November 1, 2003

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    John Philip Sousa as a labor leader.
  • El Mojado
    Águila Negra
    October 1, 2003

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    Baldemar Velasquez has a pretty important day job—president of the Farm Laborers Organizing Committee. But his work for workplace justice is...
  • Jerusalem
    Joe Uehlein, Bev Grant, Pam Parker, Anne Feeney
    September 1, 2003

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    I woke up this mornin' and none of the news was good. / The death machines were rumblin' 'cross the ground where Jesus stood.
  • We're An On-Time Union
    Gloria Britton-Ellis, AFT Singers Burnetta Ajide, Jo Autry, Rennette Brown, Tom Moran, Sharon Wilson
    August 1, 2003

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    Music, struggle, teaching: all of a piece...
  • I Cannot Sleep
    Jon Fromer, Francisco Herrera
    July 1, 2003

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    A Malvina Reynolds tune: I cannot sleep thinking of the children / Who cannot sleep, gone supperless to bed. / I cannot sleep thinking of...
  • Toxic Dreams
    Pat Wynne
    June 1, 2003

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    In 2001 Pat Wynne traveled to Cuba with members of the Freedom Song Network to perform and attend a labor conference and the May Day...
  • Mean Things Happening / Ain't You Got A Right / Roll The Union On
    Luci Murphy, Janet Stecher, Susan Lewis
    May 1, 2003

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    Elders of the tribe: These songs of the civil rights movement were recorded at the June 2001 Great Labor Arts Exchange.
  • If I Only Had A Brain
    George Mann, Julius Margolin
    April 1, 2003

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    I'd read poetry for hours / Circulate in ivory towers / Know Mexico from Spain / I would say it very bluntly / Africa is not a country / If...
  • The People Are In Charge
    Ray Korona
    March 1, 2003

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    Every big, political demonstration has its own rhythm, sense of danger, spirit of determination and edgy humor. Each one, in its own way,...
  • One Puppet Town
    Charlie King
    February 1, 2003

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    Don't bring your puppet to the inauguration / W don't allow no puppets marching around / Don't try any free speech or protestation / 'Cause...
  • No Sweat
    Pat Humphries
    January 1, 2003

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    Bev Grant and I wrote No Sweat for United Students Against Sweatshop's campaign of the same name. We were both raising teenage daughters...
  • Reindeer Games
    David King
    December 1, 2002

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    What if Santa’s reindeer didn’t like how they were treated?
  • Labor Of Love
    Bev Grant
    November 1, 2002

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    Inspired by the birth of Malaya, her daughter's daughter.
  • One More Time
    Charlie Ray Fetty III
    October 1, 2002

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    A song about the Mobil Inspirational, third-prize winner in the 1999 Colorado State Fair Parade (and first prize in originality).
  • The Mill Was Made Of Marble / I Ain't No Stranger Now
    Joe Glazer
    September 1, 2002

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    Since I've been introduced to the CIO / I ain't no stranger now.

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