Metadata

A group of “socialist feminist women who like to sing” came together to form the Red Berets in Toronto in 1981. Their first gig was at the International Women’s Day rally held at City Hall on Saturday, March 7, 1981 and their opening song was “Bread and Roses.”

The Red Berets sang regularly at benefits, rallies, demonstrations and picket lines in and around Toronto from 1981 to 1988. Singing feminist songs as well as traditional songs of solidarity and struggle, the Red Berets also wrote their own songs or rewrote lyrics to highlight current issues. A Red Berets pamphlet from the early years says:

“We are a grassroots singing group dedicated to making music accessible by encouraging audience participation….While we sing about a wide diversity of social issues – workers’ rights, disarmament, anti-intervention, anti-racism, choice on abortion and sexual orientation – our emphasis is on integrating these issues with concerns of the women’s movement.”

Participation in the group was open, and numbers rose and fell over the years, but the group maintained a core of about twelve singers.

The group resurfaced in 2002 and 2005 to sing at labour history conferences and in May 2014 to be themselves in the play, Life on the Line: Women Strike at Eaton’s 1984-85, by Pat McDermott. The Red Berets still sing together in protest from time to time. Eight Red Berets gathered to sing with others at the Toronto Harperman Singalong (“Harperman, it’s time for you to go!”) on September 17, 2015.

The information on the Red Berets pages has been compiled from members’ collective memories, diaries, songbooks, and other records. Apologies for any errors.

Liz Martin
Jane Springer
Helena Wehrstein

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Read on to learn more about The Red Berets:

• Recordings
• Songlist & Lyrics
• Gigs
• Publicity
• Group Dynamics
• Singers
• Photos

You can download the Red Berets Archive as a complete package, including photos and links to Related Materials.

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Recordings

Recordings of the following songs are posted in the Culture/Music section of this website and can also be directly accessed through the links to Related Materials below.

These are not professional recordings. They were originally made for rehearsal purposes, and are included to give a sense of the Red Berets’ sound and the kinds of songs they sang.

• A Si Katali – Traditional Zulu, written on ANC picket lines
• Fight Back – Holly Near 1978, with permission
• Gonna Rise – Susan Howlett (Red Berets)
• It’s My Body Medley – Based on three Leslie Gore songs, lyrics rewritten by Andrea Knight and other Red Berets
• Moving Mountains – Arlene Mantle 1981, with permission, lyrics adapted by Red Berets
• Oh Come All Ye Shoppers – Traditional, lyrics rewritten by Red Berets
• Old Woman – Michal Brody (formerly Michelle) 1973, with permission, lyrics adapted by unknown person
• Union Maid – Kerry Mills (Red Wing), lyrics adapted by Woodie Guthrie (1961) and Nancy Katz (third verse)
• We Will Not Be Denied – Jan Hillegas 1982, with permission, lyrics adapted by Andrea Knight (Red Berets)
• Women Walk More Determined – Kristin Lems 1983, with permission

Songlist and Lyrics

The Red Berets sang many traditional songs, and often modified the words to reflect a socialist feminist perspective or rewrote them to fit a specific occasion. Imagine the joy in replacing the first few lines of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman” with “Arise ye proletariat, let nothing you dismay/We all could buy more presents if we all got better pay”!

The group developed a number of so-called “zipper songs,” songs that were adapted again and again to suit specific events. The Red Berets’ favourite “zipper songs” included Arlene Mantle’s “Moving Mountains,” Holly Near’s “Singing for Our Lives,” and the traditional African-American song, “Oh Freedom.”

The Red Berets’ full songlist is below. Download a booklet of Selected Lyrics (marked *).

• A Si Katali* – traditional Zulu, written on ANC picket lines
• Apartheid No – Carole Rose Livingston 1983
• Arise Ye Merry Comrades – traditional, adapted by Red Berets
• Bella Ciao* – traditional Italian folksong, adapted by Italian Partisans
• Boys Will Be Boys
• Bread and Roses* – Mimi Farina 1974, poem by James Oppenheim 1915, adapted by Red Berets
• Carry It On – Gil Turner
• Cruise Blues* – Susan Howlett (Red Berets) 1984
• Cuanto Trabajo – Gloria Martin
• Deck the Halls – traditional, adapted by Red Berets
• Default Is the Fault of the IMF – Bob Carty 1984
• Die Gedanken Sind Frei – traditional, adapted by Arthur Kevess
• El Pueblo Unido – Sergio Ortega ca.1973, lyrics by Quilapayún
• Fifties Sound*- Kristin Lems 1983
• Fight Back*- Holly Near 1978
• For All Women in Struggle* – Kristin Lems 1979
• Free Trade Song (Ca-na-da) – Bobby Gimby 1967, lyrics adapted by unknown author
• Freedom Voices – Patty Huntington
• Gonna Rise* – Susan Howlett (Red Berets) 1984
• Harriet Tubman – Walter Robinson 1980
• Hay Una Mujer Desaparecida* – Holly Near 1978
• Hold On Women – Frank Lynch
• Housewife’s Lament – Anonymous, mid-19th century from Sara A. Price’s diary
• Hymn of Sandinista Unity – Carlos Mejia Godoy
• If You Miss Me at the Back of the Bus (Oh Mary Don’t You Weep)* – traditional, adapted by Charles Neblett 1962, and others
• I’m a Friend of the Foetus – Carole Rose Livingston 1982
• In Contempt* – traditional folksong, adapted by Aaron Kramer and Betty Sanders 1950, to protest US House Committee on Un-American Activities
• International, The – Pierre De Geyter 1888, lyrics from poem by Eugène Pottier 1871
• It’s My Body Medley* – Based on three songs by Leslie Gore, adapted by Red Berets
• Jingle Bells* – traditional, adapted by Red Berets
• Joy to the World* – traditional, adapted by Red Berets
• Limpopo – Human Condition
• Look to the People – Ruth Pelham 1982, adapted by Red Berets – zipper song
• Love Me, I’m a Liberal* – Phil Ochs 1966, updated by many singers over the years, including Andrea Knight (Red Berets)
• MacGregor Don’t Allow No Striking Around Here
• March On
• Mayn Rue Platz – traditional, adapted by Morris Rosenfeld 1911
• More than a Paycheque – M. Barnwell (Sweet Honey in the Rock) 1981
• Moving Mountains* – Arlene Mantle 1981 – zipper song
• Nicaragua
• Nine to Five – Dolly Parton 1980
• No a la Intervencion* – Sabia, a nueva cancion group in the 1980s
• No More – David Paul 1982
• No More Shit (Ain’t She Sweet?)* – Milton Ager 1927, adapted by Chris Mills (Red Berets)
• Oh Come All Ye Shoppers* – traditional, adapted by Red Berets
• Oh Freedom* – Post-Civil War African-American song, adapted by Red Berets – zipper song
• Old Woman – Michal Brody (formerly Michelle) 1973, unknown adaptation
• On Children – Sweet Honey in the Rock, poem by Kahlil Gibran
• Onwards Eaton’s Workers* – traditional, adapted by Red Berets
• Pa Donde – Ixim Wanima
• Punch It In (Breaking Up Is Hard to Do) – Howard Greenfield and Neil Sedaka, adapted by Julie McCall
• Same Boat Now – Betsy Rose 1983
• Shameless Hussies (I Wish I Was in Dixie) – Dan D. Emmett, unknown adaptation
• Shnel Loifu Di Reder
• Silent Night* – traditional, adapted by Red Berets
• Singing for Our Lives* – Holly Near 1979, adapted by Red Berets – zipper song
• Smash the Right* – Arlene Mantle 1982, from a collective song-writing session facilitated by Arlene Mantle
• Smash the Right* – Red Berets 1981
• So Let the Union In
• Solidarity Forever (Battle Hymn of the Republic) – Ralph Chaplin 1915, and others
• Stand Up, Oh Eaton’s Workers* – traditional, adapted by Red Berets
• Step By Step – traditional, arranged by John McCutcheon
• Still Ain’t Satisfied – Bonnie Lockhart 1974
• Superwoman* – Cathy Miller (the Singing Quilter) 1982
• Swing Low, Sweet Paddy Wagon (Swing Low, Sweet Chariot)* – traditional, adapted by Red Berets
• Testimony Ferron 1980 (for This Movie Is About Rape)
• There Was a Young Woman Who Swallowed a Lie – Alan Mills 1952, adapted by Meredith Tax 1970
• Twelve Days of Christmas, The* – traditional, adapted by Andrea Knight (Red Berets)
• Two Good Arms – Charlie King 1978
• Union Maid (Red Wing) – Kerry Mills 1907, adapted by Woodie Guthrie 1961; Nancy Katz (third verse) 1973
• We Have a Little Problem (The Dreidel Song)* – traditional, adapted by Red Berets
• We Shall Not Be Moved* – African-American spiritual, adapted by Red Berets – zipper song
• We Will Not Be Denied* – Jan Hillegas 1982, adapted by Andrea Knight (Red Berets)
• We Won’t Go Back* – Chris Mills (Red Berets) 1983
• What Shall We Do (Drunken Sailor)* – traditional sea shanty, adapted by Red Berets
• Which Side Are You On (Lay the Lily Low) – traditional, adapted by Florence Reece 1946
• Who Gave You the Right – Bob Carty
• Whole World, The – traditional, adapted by Red Berets
• Will the Circle Be Unbroken – Charles H. Gabriel and Ada R. Habershon – zipper song
• Woman I Am
• Woman Time A Come
• Women Walk More Determined* – Kristin Lems 1983, adapted by Red Berets
• Working Girl Blues – Hazel Dickens 1986

Red Beret Gigs

The following list of performances was put together from songbooks, diaries, and agendas – members’ copies of the Women’s Press Everywoman’s Almanac were indispensable in the research.

Publicity

The Red Berets created two brochures outlining “who we are” and “what we sing” for groups who wanted them to perform at an event. They were also featured in the Everywoman’s Almanac 1983 (Toronto: Women’s Educational Press, 1982).

Links to these archival documents and other original materials are in the Related Materials sections below.

Group Dynamics

Notes from a Discussion – June 10, 1984

The Red Berets began as a small support group singing mainly on picket lines and at rallies. As the group was increasingly asked to sing on stage in concert-like situations, there was pressure to be more accomplished and well-rehearsed.

These notes are from a discussion held by twelve Red Berets in June 1984. The discussion went around the circle, allowing everyone a chance to speak. The different voices reflect a tension between strengthening the support group role and promoting a more polished performance group.

Many members expressed a desire to widen the membership. Any woman was welcome to join. But members expected a minimum commitment – as the discussion makes clear – of attending the previous practice in order to be able to sing at a more formal event.

• The rule of a practice before the performance shouldn’t apply to demos. We’re something new, not a professional choir, and that’s good. We shouldn’t be overly critical of our members.
• It’s good to be serious about the group. I agree we’re not professionals but we should still be well prepared.
• Why do we attend some events and not others? It’s frustrating to be at times a support group, and at other times a performance group.
• There should be collective leadership – we should all take responsibility rather than have one person who’s watching for quality control.
• Everyone should take a bit more initiative, not just leave it up to the real musical types.
• We should be able to do picket-line support on our own initiative.
• I favour the support side, singing at demos. Perhaps with time we could become more professional.
• I’d like to see our status clarified, and for us to be more polished.
• I would hate to see the group closed so that people couldn’t keep joining. I don’t see the contradiction between being more professional and having fun.
• People are in the group for different reasons. I’d like a stronger sense of collectivity. We need to find a way to be more honest with each other.
• I like the idea of bringing groups their own music. Let’s recruit women from groups we’d like to support.
• We should make more links with women of colour and other groups.
• Let’s remember how far we’ve come. We now have a built-in quality control and we should encourage new members – they’re what’s made us great.
• We need help with our presentation – let’s have a workshop from some director.
• We have a basic standard that we must all be in tune. We need some way of ensuring we’re in tune, of telling people when they’re not.
• We could use more instruments because it would improve the sound.
• I don’t like being the only guitarist because I don’t have enough time to practice.
• We should have a portable sound system. It’s a drag having to be “good sports” when the sound systems are rotten.
• I enjoy performances and would like to develop a facility and ease on stage.
• It would be great to get away from churchy, hymn-type music.
• We need a checklist for performances and for strike support.
• We should have some colour coordination in clothes for our performances.
• We could get Red Berets t-shirts.
• We need to learn how to teach songs to people.
• Teaching songs requires a lot of confidence.
• Womanly Way gives workshops on how to use mics, etc.
• Doing workshops would require a lot of time that people probably don’t have.
• In performances, our hearing isn’t always as acute because we’re nervous.
• Someone should bring a tape recorder to every practice so we can tape and critique our singing at the next practice.
• We have 16 people, whereas we used to have 25 or 26. We’ve always benefited from “new blood.” Let’s see if we can get more people committed for the next year, beginning in September.

Singers

These women sang with the Red Berets at one time or another between 1981 and 1988, and agreed to have their names appear.