Looking back 200 years
The farmers plowed the great frontier
To their sons through sweat and tears
They gave a better life
Gradually the city called
With the big machines and the factory walls
Some felt big and others small
But all were sure to thrive

Around the world the others came
To flee the pain and feel the flame
And for a time the promise reigned
And the dream was not denied
But greed became the loudest noise
The little man had a little voice
And still today so little choice
There’s no place left for pride

In this land of opportunity where men are bought and sold
Where they used to claim the streets were paved with gold
Every year a hundred thousand children come of age
Tell me do they have a right to a living wage?
Tell me do they have a right to a living wage?

Making steel and making cars
Behind the wheel inside the bars
The money burned like cheap cigars
In the land of wealth and fame
Digging coal and laying rail
Two good wars and a couple failures
Could never tip the justice scales
And no one felt ashamed

But the mines and mills and railroad jobs have all but gone away
With legacy so many felt betrayed
Every year a hundred thousand children come of age
Tell me do they have a right to a living wage?
Tell me do they have a right to a living wage?

Well, the old folks speak of better times in the distant yesterday
Where a man could feed his family on his pay
Every year a hundred thousand children come of age
Tell me do they have a right to a living wage?
Tell me do they have a right to a living wage?

To a living wage
To a living wage