Supplemental material

I have included chapter seven of my book Insurrection, as I talk about this song under the subtitle Pie in the Sky When You Die. I’ve also included a link to the book itself.

reflection

I picked Joe Hill’s musical parody because of the way that it captures three central themes discussed by Marx in yesterday’s reflection. Firstly, the song reveals heaven is an idealized reflection of earthly economic conditions. Secondly, it pokes fun at the type of consolation offered by confessional religion. Thirdly, it powerfully expresses how confessional religion is a conserving force that protects the status quo, rather than challenging it.

After a couple of more taxing reflections, I think that this little musical number offers a complimentary way of understanding the move from Feuerbach to Marx.

The Starvation Army

Joe Hill (1879 – 1915) was a labor activist, songwriter, and member of the Industrial Workers of the World. An immigrant worker frequently facing unemployment and underemployment, became a popular songwriter and cartoonist for the union.

Hill was convicted of murder in a controversial trial. Following an unsuccessful appeal, political debates, and international calls for clemency from high-profile figures, Hill was executed in November 1915.

One of his most famous songs is "The Preacher and the Slave" a parody of Joseph Webster’s hymn “The Sweet By and By”. Hill composed his response because migrant workers would often be greeted by the Salvation Army singing “The Sweet By and By” as they returned to the city each evening after having worked all day in dire conditions. The original hymn told them that life would begin after death. For Hill, life was possible before death, but only as we put our shoulder to the plow of historical struggle and fight for equality here and now.

It was proving difficult to find a good cover version of the song, so my friend Heatherlynn came over to my house and recorded a version especially for AfL.