folkVOTE’s first featured Song and Video: “1920” by Saro Lynch-Thomason and Sam Gleaves – June 29

from I Have Seen Women: Songs by Si Kahn Celebrating Women’s Lives and Struggles by Saro Lynch-Thomason & Sam Gleaves (Strictly Country Records)

“1920”

Music and lyrics by Si Kahn, Sam Gleaves, and Saro Lynch-Thomason
© Joe Hill Music LLC, Saro Lynch-Thomason & Fabulachian Music (All ASCAP)
For background and context, click here.

Have you seen a long long line
As women stand and wait to vote
They’ve been waiting for a long long time
But now the year is 1920

The last petition, the final prayer
The signs and banners stored away
One last cheer lingers in the air
It echoes down to us today

Chorus
Since they stood tall and signed their names
One hundred years have come and gone
So much has changed, so much remains
We go on, we still go on

The last march ended, one last song shared
The vote for women finally passed
The Constitution now repaired
Suffrage is the law at last

Through years of beatings, torture, jail
They stood their ground, they claimed their rights
They did not yield to scorn and fear
The lamp they lifted still burns bright (Chorus)

Give thanks to those who showed the way
In their history you will find
How fierce love and stubborn strength
Can help you through the hardest times

Hold their courage in your hearts
Sisters, workers, children, friends
We know the vote was just a start
Keep the faith as they did then (Chorus)

Did you see that long long line
Young women laughing, filled with pride
They’re about to vote for the very first time
Like in the year of 1920