I had the music & words for this song in my head while my wife and I were in Yackandandah in March 2020. We had been to the Port Fairy Folk Festival. Sadly, the Yack Festival was cancelled, due to COVID. We met with locals at the Star Hotel & enjoyed the company of Pete Denahy along with other performers. I woke at around 1 am, went to the camp kitchen & recorded the tune & words for this song. I also recorded ‘I’m on a Roll’ (aka The Toilet Paper Blues)*. “We’ll Stand…” was my way of offering reflection & support for what I knew was to come, having been a nurse + studied Epidemiology at Uni. As a chorister, I felt this song would resonate, particularly during times of isolation. Singing has given me joy. The company of fellow singers is always both challenging & rewarding.

Jim brought the camp kitchen demo to me, and I harmonized and arranged it for the Illawarra Union Singers. I split the melody, alternating between the sopranos and altos. Later, to strengthen the melody, I added a separate solo melody line, to be sung by a soloist. In our choir, the Illawarra Union Singers, this is sung by Jim.

Ideally, this melody could be sung by a female  voice; if sung by a male voice, this creates an occasional parallel 5th and a  lack of melodic distinction in the arrangement. Still, as Frank Zappa said, having unbreakable rules makes for boring composition; and Jim’s rich, distinctive voice creates the needed separation in our choir. The instrumental demo track with all parts has the melody in the higher octave. The sung melody track is sung by a male voice.

The 1st verse is for a solo voice, and the 2nd in unison until it breaks out into harmony in the final phrase. The 4 part SATB harmony is then written in 2 staves, similar to how traditional hymn music is written. In a couple of spots with alternate bass notes, by preference, use the bottom notes.

Sheet Music (.pdf)
Sheet Music -Cropped (.pdf)

Here is sheet music for a melody only lead-sheet:

Sheet Music, Melody: (.pdf)
Sheet Music, Melody -Cropped (.pdf)

The cropped sheet music will look slightly bigger on screen. Also, if you open the cropped sheet music in Adobe Reader, and select “Fit” in print settings, you will get a slightly larger printout. If this doesn’t work, use the 1st uncropped sheet music.

Practice Tracks
The sung practice tracks are for guidance. They are not meant to be “performances”, or even what are sometimes described as “demo tracks”. Instructions on how to download practice tracks from this site can be found here.

Melody, (sung by a male voice)

All parts, with melody, (instrumental, melody violin)

Soprano -in S/A Staff (Flute Sound)

Alto (Oboe D’Amore Sound)

Alto, (Voice, without unison verse)

Tenor Harmony (Sung)
This track includes the 1st verse melody,  2nd unison verse, and solo vocal at the beginning of verse 4 as well.

Bass (Sung)
This includes the 2nd unison verse as well.

Here is the sheet music in .jpg format:

Here is the melody only lead-sheet music in .jpg form:

Finally, here is the a compressed music .xml file, of the whole arrangement, enabling the music, created in Finale, to be opened in other notation programs such as the Open Source program MuseScore, and here is a link to the Finale file for the arrangement.
Enjoy!
Doug McPherson

* Also arranged and produced by Doug McPherson

This song commemorates a coal mining disaster, in the Scottish town of Blantyre, in the vicinity of Glasgow in 1877. The explosion was a firedamp, or methane, explosion.

It beggars belief that this initial disaster, killing 207 men and boys, some as young as 11, was followed by others, in 1878 and 1879. Equally unthinkable by today’s standards was the eviction of a number of widows of the killed miners in the months following the disaster (Sim 2017). Many of the workers and their families were Irish emigrants, fleeing the poverty and deprivation of the potato famine. The mine continued operating until 1957.

The exact provenance of the song is unclear. John Raven writes that the song was collected by A. L. Lloyd, the noted folklorist, the text first appearing in LLoyd’s 1951 book “Coaldust Ballads”.  The earliest recording I can find is by Ewan MacColl, but sounds somewhat dated. The next earliest recording I have found is by Christy Moore.  Scroll down to find a YouTube clip of a a live rendition of his performance of the song, and a rendition by Luke Kelly. Other recordings of the song are too numerous to list, with slightly varying lyrics and arrangements. One common distinctive feature is the modulation from a minor key to its tonic major in sections of the song; in my arrangement, from Am to A major.

Notes on My Arrangement

This arrangement, for a small mixed choir,  has male voices singing most of the 1st verse, matching the narrative of the song. This is mostly 2 part harmony, with the exception of the 5th line, bars 22 to 26.
The last line of the 1st verse is given to female voices, and then the male voices are reintroduced, 1st with the tenor and then with the bass. From this point on, the melody is primarily alternated between the soprano and alto parts.

Sheet Music .pdf
Sheet Music .pdf (Cropped)
Scroll down to view the sheet music, on the page in .jpg format.

Practice Tracks

These are all best listened to in conjunction with the sheet music. Firstly, here are practice tracks presented in SATB order. However, note that the female voices don’t come in until the end of the 1st verse.  In all tracks the “target voice” is played by the piano, and is significantly louder. To find out how to download practice tracks from this site, scroll down, or click here.

Soprano, Entry at 48 Seconds, Bar 37

Alto, Entry at 48 Seconds, Bar 37

Tenor 1
This is primarily a harmony line, with the exception of bars 2-6, 22-26, & 62-64, where tenor 1 has the melody.

Tenor 2/Bass
This line has the melody for most of verse 1, up until the female voice entries, except for bars 22-26, where it provides harmonic support. When the part re-enters in verse 2, it becomes the bass line until the end of the piece.

Tenor, Melody Verse 1
This track cherry picks the melody from tenor 1 and 2 in verse 1, until the female voices enter, then continues with the T1 line. It may be suited to a single tenor as a solo.

Bass
This is identical to the Tenor2/Bass line above, throughout, except for bars 22-26, when it is a distinct bass line.

Finally, here is an all parts demo, played by wind instruments, with an organ bass.

For context, a detailed, if imperfectly written, history of the MUA, well worth a read, can be found here.
Peace and social justice issues addressed by the union include opposing conscription in both the First World War, and the Vietnam War, as well as, “advocating for Aboriginal rights, opposing apartheid in South Africa, opposing the Vietnam War, and participating in the nuclear disarmament movement.”

Another issue was the opposition to sending pig iron to Japan, when Japan was invading China, immediately prior to the 2nd World War, the issue which gave rise to the Dalfram dispute, and Robert Menzies infamous nickname, “Pig Iron Bob”.  All this, as well as the union’s core activities, advocating and fighting for workers’ rights.

But back to the song, which references many of these events and issues.

Sheet Music: (.pdf) (Scroll down for .jpg)

The song was written in the key of G, but the arrangement, as sung by the Illawarra Union Singers, sits comfortably in A. A capo on the 2nd fret, allows for the guitar shapes and patterns from the G music to be effectively played in A.
Key of G
Key of G: Cropped
Key of A
Key of A: Cropped
The cropped sheet music allows for a bigger printout; choose “Fit”, or “Fit to printer margins” in the print options. If this doesn’t work for you, choose the non-cropped version.
Here is the original sheet music that I used as starting point for this arrangement.

Practice Tracks

These are all in the key of A.
Soprano (Chorus Only)
Alto (Sung)
Tenor (Sung)
Bass (Sung)
All Parts: Instrumental
-and as a reference point, the original demo  track, sung by Kate Newfield and Jonathon Snook, in the key of G.

Here is the sheet music, in G.

Here is the sheet music, in the key of A, in accordance with the practice tracks.

This is a song for peace, adapted by Doug McPherson from a hymn by Trisha Watts. Each year, on August 6th, a group of us meet at a peace monument in Wollongong mall, to commemorate the bombing of Hiroshima. We sing a couple of songs, and have a minute of silent reflection. This year, 2020, this was one of the songs we sang.

Sheet Music .pdf
Sheet Music Cropped: .pdf

Practice Tracks

Melody/Soprano (Piano)

Alto (Sung)

Tenor (Sung)

Bass (Sung)

Sheet Music .pdf

Practice Tracks

How to download practice tracks:

Melody

Bass

All Parts

Peter Paul & Mary Recording

The arrangement is in 2 parts, for higher and lower voices.

Sheet Music

Practice Tracks

Practice your own part, and then practice singing that part with the both parts track. Click here for instructions on how to save practice tracks from this site.

Upper Voice

Lower Voice

Both Parts

A Sung Demo Track With Both Parts: Male Voices

Here is the sheet music, in .jpg format:

Notes on versions:

Sheet Music Gm: Score

This is the original key. To save room the unison parts are only written on the soprano/alto stave.

Soprano Part

Soprano & Drum Parts

Soprano & Alto Parts

Tenor Part

Bass Part

Sheet Music Em: Score

This should only be used by a guitarist, with a capo on the 3rd fret.

Sarah De Jong’s Original Sheet Music

Practice Tracks

In most instances, the practice tracks include an introduction, not written into the sheet music.

Melody

Melody, Sung with Drum Beat
-Sung by a tenor; not a soprano

Alto, Sung:

The sung parts are only where the alto differs from the soprano line.

Tenor, Sung

Bass, Sung

All parts: These tracks below use combinations of instruments representing the four vocal parts. It may be useful to learn your part and then sing it with the accompaniment of these instrumental parts, to test how well you have learnt the part. Of these two tracks, the string arrangement may be more in keeping with the spirit of the song.

All Parts: Woodwinds

All Parts: Strings

Lyrics: Syllables separated by hyphens

Here is the music in jpg format:

Notes on changes from previous versions of the song.

References
Cox, B, 2009 ‘Appin mine blast: a day that shook our world’, Illawarra Mercury, 23 July, viewed July 2 2019, <https://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/619987/appin-mine-blast-a-day-that-shook-our-world/>

This song is based on a somewhat earlier song, “The Nonsense Song”, written at the height of Tony Abbott’s “leadership” of Australia.  This current song only has 3 verses, dealing with the 3 most recent Prime Ministers.

Sheet Music
Sheet Music (Cropped)
Scroll down for the sheet music, with performance notes in .jpg format.

Practice Tracks
Practice Suggestion: Practice your part, singing all the choruses of the song, with the practice track for your part.  Then practice your part against the “All Parts” track.

Chorus: All Parts, Sung

Chorus: Melody, Sopranos and Altos

Chorus: Tenors

Chorus: Bass

Verse and Chorus: Instrumental, Melody

Notes on versions of this song.

This arrangement, is for a small mixed voice choir with guitar accompaniment, and an instrumental rendition of the arrangement sounds like this. It is based on an SATB arrangement by C. Shaw and E. Blyth which is sung by the combined Sydney, Newcastle and Illawarra union choirs.
The key has been lowered to G.
The melody, identical to the combined choir version except for the lower key, is to be sung in unison by baritone and/or mezzo-soprano voices.

Sheet Music: (.pdf format)

Sheet Music: (.pdf format, cropped)

Lyrics: Word Document

If printing the cropped sheet music, look for a printer setting that says “fit”, or “fit to printer margins”. If that doesn’t work for you download the first, uncropped file.

Practice Tracks

If you aren’t sure how to download tracks from this site, click here.
The sheet music contains femate, (pauses) in bars 2 to 6, only some of which are reflected in the practice tracks below.

Melody: Mezzo-Soprano

In the 1st verse, the melody is sung primarily as a solo, up until the last line, “…but the union makes us strong!”

Melody: Baritone

Identical to the soprano line, except an octave lower.

Alto

The alto part is similar to the combined choir arrangement. The end of the first verse uses the same notes from verse 2 in that arrangement. The beginning of verse 2 uses the same notes as verses 3 & 4. The pitch is lower than the combined choir version.

Tenor

Tenor (Sung)

The tenor part contains a solo harmony line for most of the first verse, to complement the solo sung by a soprano or baritone. This could also be sung by an alto or a soprano, in the latter case up an octave. The rest of the tenor line is the same as the combined choir arrangement, except for the last note of the chorus, and of the coda. (The beginning of verse 2 uses the same notes as verses 3 & 4 in the combined choir version. The pitch is lower than that version.)

All Parts Together

Good practice may be to practice your part with its individual track, and then sing this against the all parts track.

Notes on previous versions:

And finally here is the sheet music in jpg format:And the lyrics as text:
When the union’s inspiration through the workers’ blood shall run,
There can be no power greater anywhere beneath the sun,
Yet what force on earth is weaker than the feeble strength of one,
But the Union makes us strong!

Chorus
Solidarity forever, solidarity forever,
Solidarity forever,
For the Union makes us strong!

Is there aught we hold in common with the greedy parasite,
Who would lash us into serfdom and would crush us with his might?
Is there anything left to us but to organize and fight?
For the union makes us strong!

They have taken untold millions that they never toiled to earn,
But without our brain and muscle not a single wheel can turn,
We can break their haughty power gain our freedom when we learn,
That the Union makes us strong!

In our hands is placed a power greater than their hoarded gold,
Greater than the might of armies magnified a thousand fold,
We can bring to birth a new world from the ashes of the old,
For the Union makes us strong!

Coda After Final Chorus:

For the Union makes us strong!

It seems to me that the song has particular resonance and currency in Australia at the moment, following the largely ineffectual Royal Commission into Banking. This arrangement is based on an earlier Michael Roper arrangement.

Sheet Music: (pdf, tightly cropped)

To print the music above, look for a setting that says “Fit” or “Fit to Printer Margins”, for a nice big printout, or if that doesn’t work, print the music below.

Sheet Music: (pdf, margins)

Practice Tracks

Soprano/Melody: 2 Verses Plus Chorus

Soprano/Melody: Final Chorus

Soprano/Melody: Final Chorus; With Click Track

Alto: Chorus Only

Tenor: Chorus Only

Bass: Chorus Only

Bass: Chorus Only, With Click Track

Here is a recording of the Weavers singing the song, in Bb:

And the same Weavers’ recording, with a pitch shift to C:

This last recording with the pitch shift puts the recording into the same key as the arrangement presented here.

How to download practice tracks.

Finally here is the sheet music in .jpg format:

Notes on version changes.