It's about the uprise of the poor and downtrodden workers. The poor who have "for too long cast aside, stripped of dignity, opportunity", spent "countless sleepless days in underestimation".
So now the poor, the "The have-nots" are "calling in the listless wind
Whispering for retribution"
"From the bottom where you left them", at the bottom of society where society has left them to hunger.
"So onward friends from our battered homes"
The impoverished live in homes that are poor quality (not being able to afford better)
"Forward to the onrush of cast stones, crushed bones
And the gallows"
Calling for the downtrodden to overthrow their oppressors.
It ends on an ironic note. I think it's a commentary on Communism. Our sympathies lay with the downtrodden up until the last two verses, which are where Communism comes in. Communism sees the obvious social inequity and calls for the workers to rise up in violent revolution and to "cast stones".
Basically, I think it's both indicating the problem of poverty, but also the irony of solving it via Marxist solutions.
It's about the uprise of the poor and downtrodden workers. The poor who have "for too long cast aside, stripped of dignity, opportunity", spent "countless sleepless days in underestimation".
So now the poor, the "The have-nots" are "calling in the listless wind Whispering for retribution"
"From the bottom where you left them", at the bottom of society where society has left them to hunger.
"So onward friends from our battered homes" The impoverished live in homes that are poor quality (not being able to afford better) "Forward to the onrush of cast stones, crushed bones And the gallows" Calling for the downtrodden to overthrow their oppressors.
It ends on an ironic note. I think it's a commentary on Communism. Our sympathies lay with the downtrodden up until the last two verses, which are where Communism comes in. Communism sees the obvious social inequity and calls for the workers to rise up in violent revolution and to "cast stones".
Basically, I think it's both indicating the problem of poverty, but also the irony of solving it via Marxist solutions.