trad
"Found in the Harris Collection, this ballad was one of two composed between 1885 and 1899 by a mill owner named Richard Driver of Valley Falls, RI. It was written during a time when the RI General Assembly was deliberating over ten hour work days. Driver was co-owner of a firm which operated a worsted mill in Gazza, a now-deserted village just outside of Mapleville. New melody by Armand Aromin, partially inspired by 'Cluck Old Hen'."
The Vox Hunters: https://thevoxhunters.bandcamp.com/track/ten-hours-a-day
Chorus:
Oh we want less work, we want more play
We want to work ten hours a day
We want to stop one hour for noon
And we want these things and we want them soon
Oh we all want more time to read
More time to take a mental feed
More time to grasp the eternal facts
And stamp them on our intellects
We want more truth, we want more light
We all want to have our rights
We want to make our miseries less
We want change, we want progress
We all want more time to eat
Our daily bread, our daily meat
And thus enjoy the fruits of toil
The food for which we sweat and broil
Besides had we more time to eat
Our food would taste both fresh and sweet
And from it we should get more good
For eating slow would mend our blood
And when the blood is poor and thin
The wrinkles soon come on the skin
And thousands to this very day
At forty-five look old and grey
This state of things ought not to be
What is it else but slavery
When we are forced to work for wealth
Until we undermine our health
And this is done ten thousand times
And from it comes ten thousand crimes
We sin against the laws of health
And plant a curse beneath our wealth
This hurry up, this go ahead
This long hour race for daily bread
Will have an end, it does not pay
We therefore want ten hours a day
Our blood is now so very thin
It cannot shine right through the skin
It cannot make us red and fresh
Nor can it make good solid flesh