Organize! Oh, toilers, come organize your might;
Then we’ll sing one song of the workers’ commonwealth,
Full of beauty, full of love and health.
-Joe Hill
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hilda Erickson
There are three love songs written by Joe Hill that have survived to make their way into our Rebel Songwriter’s musical legacy. Two were found in his room when it was searched soon after his arrest in January of 1914. These two songs were subsequently published in The Salt Lake Tribune of June 21, 1914. The third was found years later in Stockholm, Sweden, during a search of the Joe Hill file of the Archives of the Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
From The Salt Lake Tribune of June 21, 1914:
Come and Take a Joy-ride in My Aeroplane
If you will be my sweetheart, I’ll take you for a ride
Among the silv’ry clouds up in the sky.
Then, far away from sorrows like eagles we will glide,
And no one will be there but you and I.
Say, darling, if you’ll be my little honey dove,
We’ll fly above and coo and love.
I’ll take you from this dusty earth to where the air
Is pure and crystal-clear—and there
I’ll give my promise to be true,
While gliding ‘mong the silv’ry clouds with you.
CHORUS
Come and take a joy-ride in my aeroplane tonight,
Way beyond the clouds, where all the stars are shining bright.
There I’d like to look into your loving eyes of blue,
And if I should fall, then I know I’d fall in love with you.
If you will be my sweetheart, I’ll take you to the stars,
The man in the moon will meet you face to face.
We’ll take a trip to Venus, to Jupiter and to Mars,
And with the comets we will run a race.
We’ll go to the milky way, where all the milk is sold
In cups of gold, so I was told.
Our little honeymooning trip shall be a scream,
A sweet and lovely dream.
Come, put your little head close to my heart,
And promise that we’ll never, never part.
Oh, Please Let Me Dance This Waltz with You
When I hear that melody,
With its rhythmic harmony,
Then I feel just like I’d be
In a dream entrancing,
And I’d like to float through space,
Softly glide from place to place,
With the fascinating grace
Of a fairy dancing.
CHORUS
Oh, please let me dance this waltz with you,
And look in your dreamy eyes of blue.
Sweet imagination.
Smooth, gliding sensation.
Oh! love. I would die just for dancing
This waltz with you.
Listen to that mellow strain,
Come and let us waltz again.
Please don’t let me ask in vain;
I just feel like flying.
Put your head close to my heart,
And we’ll never, never part.
Come, my darling, let us start,
From joy I’m nearly dying.
The Joe Hill Songwriting Contest ended November 4th. The object of the contest being to set these two songs to music. The winner was the talented Lynn Mantle. The prize was a guitar, handmade by Rolf Hägglund and formerly played by Lovisa Samuelsson, his niece.
From the Swedish Archives:
My Dreamland Girl
Would you like to get acquainted with my Dreamland Girl divine?
Never was a picture painted fairer than this girl of mine.
Sweet and graceful like a pansy, bright and charming like a pearl,
She’s the idol of my fancy, she’s my own — my Dreamland Girl.
Charming Fairy Queen of my dreams,
Ever before me your face brightly beams:
Night and day l’m dreaming of you,
Some day my sweet dreams perhaps will come true.
She is coy and captivating, Venus-like in grace and pose,
With an air more fascinating than the fragrance of the Rose.
Like the stars her eyes are shining ‘neath a wealth of golden hair,
And my heart is ever pining for my Dreamland Girl so fair.
Performed by Bucky Halker:
Hilda Erickson
In his book The Man Who Never Died, The Life, Times, and Legacy of Joe Hill, American Labor Icon, author William M. Adler makes a strong case for Hilda Erickson as the love-interest of Joe Hill. Years later, after the death of Joe Hill, Adler tracked down a letter, written by Hilda to Aubrey Haan who was at that time researching the life of Joe Hill. The letter stated in part:
…I was engaged to marry Otto [Appelquist]. All the neighbors knew that, because my little brother August had told them that. A week before Joe was wounded, I told Otto that I had changed my mind, that I was not marrying anybody. He got very angry and asked me “if I liked Joe better than him.” I said no.
I heard Joe tease Otto once, that he was going to take me away from him. Please do not misunderstand me. Otto and Joe were perfect gentlemen. They treated me with the utmost respect, because they thought so much of our whole family [the Eselius family in whose home Joe and Otto were staying].
Joe was wounded on the same night as the Morrison case. I came home from Salt Lake the following Sunday afternoon. I saw Joe in my grandmother’s parlor. He was lying on her old fashioned iron cot, that folds up at each side for a bed. I asked him what was the matter, he said “Nothing much.” But I was not satisfied with the answer, so he finally told me that “Otto shot him in a fit of anger.” He was sorry right after, and carried him to Dr. McHugh’s office at old 14th South and State Street.
When I heard this about Otto I was very angry myself, then I knew that Otto went away because Joe may die. But when I heard about the Morrison case, I was bewildered and did not know what to think. I saw Joe every Sunday afternoon in the Salt Lake Jail. I would speak English to him, but he would talk Swedish to me in a low voice and tell me not to say a word because he was innocent of the Morrison case. Therefore the state of Utah could not prove him guilty…
Governor Spry was well aware of this love triangle at the time of Joe Hill’s execution. In late September of 1915, the Governor received the following letter from Olaf Lindegren:
Garfield Utah Sept 28, 1915
Hon. Gov. Wm. Spry, governor of Utah
Salt Lake City Utah
Dear Sir,
Among the circumstances in the prosecution of Jos. Hillstrom, there is yet to my knowledge one person who as yet has not been brought into this case namely.
At the time of the murder of Morrison and his son, Jos Hillstrom together with his partner Applequist lived with the Eselius family in Murray.
Mrs Eselius niece Hilda at this time kept company with Applequist and the mother on Xmas Eve (previous to the murder) introduced him (applequist) to me as her intended son in law.
The mother as well as her daughter at this time were members of the socialist party of Murray City.
All these persons in question could have been at the time of the murder in Salt Lake City where the quarrel according to Hillstrom took place. Consequently as Hillstrom and this family were strong friends, fraternity brothers and countrymen, it is only natural to suppose that Hillstrom will not bring them into the case at any price.
With great precaution enquire of the girl Hilda — as she takes all her advise from her cousins (the Eselius boys) and I shall be very glad indeed if this information could throw but one ray of light on this much interesting case.
Very respectfully, O. Lindegren,
Arthur Plant Garfield, Ut.
Note: As I have mentioned names please do not make this letter public; the name of the above mentioned girl is Hilda Erickson and if not found at the Eselius home enquire at Dalton & Lark Bingham, Utah.
Roger Tonnesen: A Murray family’s connection to Joe Hill
We Will Sing One Song — Six Feet In the Pine
Organize! Oh, toilers, come organize your might
Then we’ll sing one song
Of the workers’ commonwealth
Full of beauty, full of love and health
-Joe Hill
