I stand here in Lawrence, a town that used to be a city
Filled with union women and men
Now all the mills are gone and the story seems so distant
How such a thing could happen again
A hundred years ago battles raged here
You could get shot down for speaking in the street
They sent in migrants from all across Europe
So we had 26 languages, 52 seats

(Chorus)
The fight was long and bloody
But at times it seemed that we had won
Now when I look to the horizon I still see a new dawn
But the battle has just begun

And our watchword was for men and women of all nations
To struggle together as one
So that all around the globe, wherever they may toil
A union worker could see the rising sun
Long before the mills closed down this was the center of the storm
The beacon for the way things could be
The eight-hour day, worker's compensation
Health care and social security

(Chorus)

Now some would say our enemies
Are the hungry children in the mills of Mexico
But I say if the robber barons can move their business away
Then that is where the union needs to go
'Cause here the mills have come and gone
And what once appeared to be foundations, turned out to be a rug
Pulled out from underneath us
Like someone turning on the lights, then pulling out the plug

Because there was a time we organized
Workers from every corner of the earth, throughout this entire nation
At that time many said it couldn't be done
But we rose to meet the situation
And now some will say it can't be done
For the labor movement to be a global fight
And those are the people who have forgotten
That the workers of the world must unite

(Chorus)