General Ludd's Proclamation

[Verse 1] Meet me where the shadows lie Meet me by the broken stile Keep your voices low and dry We ain't here to reconcile. They say we're fools who fear the new Who fight the march of iron gears But what's a man supposed to do When his trade of twenty years... [Chorus] ...Is murdered by a water frame? That starves his kids to fan its flame? They have no conscience, feel no shame So we'll answer it with weight! [Verse 2] This ain't no quarrel with the King We've petitioned, bowed, and scraped But all our pleas don't mean a thing When our future's being re-shaped By men in rooms we'll never see Who count their gold while we count bones They call it "progress," "industry" We call it theft in brick and stone. [Chorus] That murdered our new water frame? That starved our kids to fan its flame? They have no conscience, feel no shame So we'll answer it with weight! [Bridge] They call us brutes, they call us mob Afraid of what the future brings But General Ludd is on the job To break the parts, not just the strings. So bring the hammer, bring the crow We'll work by night in the factory's glow This ain't no riot, this ain't no crime It's justice served on the master's dime. [Chorus] They murdered us with that damn frame! They starved our kids to fan its flame! They have no conscience, feel no shame! So we'll answer it with weight! [Outro] By the hammer's swing... By the iron's ring... General Ludd is King! © 2026 The Shady River Bard. All rights reserved.