Tune: 

Verse:  “John Hardy/Tom Joad” 

Chorus:  Original melody

Norma Rae was a worker at the Henley cotton mill

In a little North Carolina town,

And the people in the town all worked for Henley too,

‘Cause they couldn’t find no other job around,

They couldn’t find no other job around.

Norma worked all day in the big spinning room,

Through the dust and the clatter and the noise,

And every evenin’ when that quittin’ whistle blew,

She would head home to her darlin’ little boys,

She would head home to her darlin’ little boys.

Norma’s mama and daddy worked with her at the mill.

They’d worked there over thirty years,

And all they had to show was the dust in their lungs,

And the mill noise ringin’ in their ears,

And the mill noise ringin’ in their ears.

            Norma Rae (Norma Rae),

            Norma Rae (Norma Rae),

            You’ve gotta find a better life someday.

            Just takin’ what they’re givin’

            That ain’t no kind of livin’,

            You know there’s got to be a better way.

One day a young fellow came knockin’ on the door.

He’d gotten into down that day.

He said he’d come to organize the workers in the mill

And he was lookin’ round to find a place to stay.

He was lookin’ round to find a place to stay.

He said that Reuben Warschafsky was his name,

A New Yorker born and bred,

And Norma Rae’s Daddy said “Get movin’, young boy,

Or I’ll fill your Yankee belly full o’ lead.

I’ll fill your Yankee belly full o’ lead.”

Norma ran into Reuben at a local motel—

The only place they’d take a union man.

Norma got into a scuffle, and Reuben helped her out,

And that was when their partnership began.

Yes, that was when their partnership began.

            Norma Rae (Norma Rae),

            Norma Rae (Norma Rae),

            Listen what that union man has got to say.

            ‘Cause he knew the day he met you

            That that union bug would get you,

            And you’d soon be working with him every day.

Now Norma got to thinkin’ ‘bout the things that Reuben said.

She thought about conditions in the mill.

So she paid him a visit, said “I’m here to help you out.

We’re gonna put a union in this mill.

Together we can do it, yes we will.”

Soon Norma and Reuben were working as a team,

From morning till late at night.

To wake up the workers and overcome their fears

And to keep the black together with the white,

To keep the black together with the white.

They passed out leaflets at the gates of the mill,

Tryin’ to get their message across--

How the union would give them a voice on the job,

And the power to stand up to the boss,

The power to stand up to the boss.

            Norma Rae (Norma Rae),

            Norma Rae (Norma Rae),

            Got to keep on organizin’ every day.

            Keep doin’ what you’re doin’,

            And fightin’ for the union,

            Getting’ ready for that big election day.

Now the boss tried his best to keep Norma down,

Harassed her and spread dirty lies,

And he brought in the cops to haul her off to jail,

But Norma she just held her head up high,

And she said with a fire in her eye,

“You can pick me up and carry me away.

You can take me from the factory.

You can cart me to jail and lock me in a cell,

But you can’t take the union out of me.

Oh no you can’t take the union out of me.”

So Norma and Reuben kept spreadin’ the word,

Up until that election day,

And when the man from the Labor Board tallied up the votes

The count went for the union all the way.

Yes, they voted for the union all the way.

            Norma Rae (Norma Rae),

            Norma Rae (Norma Rae),

            You sure have come a mighty long way.

            Thanks to all your organizin’,

            Now there’s hope on the horizon,

            And soon we’re gonna see that brighter day.

Now Norma Rae’s story is based on the life

Of Crystal Lee Sutton—it’s true.

She worked to organize the J.P. Stevens mills,

And we’ve still got a lot of work to do,

We’ve still got a lot of work to do.

There’s thousands of workers in non-union shops

From Virginia down to New Orleans,

To put a union in every single one--

That’s Norma Rae and Crystal Sutton’s dream.

That’s Norma Rae and Crystal Sutton’s dream.

            Norma Rae (Norma Rae),

            Norma Rae (Norma Rae),

            That dream will be reality someday.

            We’ll be flyin’ the union banner

            From DC to Lousiana

            The Southland will be union all the way,

            And we’ll owe it all to folks like Norma Rae.

Copyright by Paul McKenna 2015