May 1st, often called May Day, just might have more holidays than any other day of the year. It is a celebration of Spring. It is a day of political protests. It is a pagan festival, a saint's feast day, & a day for organized labor. In many countries, it is a national holiday. In medieval England, people would celebrate the start of spring by going out to the country or woods—"going a-maying"—& gathering greenery & flowers. Another English tradition is the maypole. Some towns had permanent maypoles that would stay up all year; others put up a new one each May. The pole (a phallus-sign of virility) would be hung with greenery & ribbons, brightly painted, & decorated, & served as a central point for the festivities.
In many countries, May Day is also Labor Day. This originates with the United States labor movement in the late 19th Century. On May 1, 1886, unions across the country went on strike, demanding that the standard workday be shortened to eight hours. The organizers of these strikes included socialists, anarchists, & others in organized labor movements. Rioting in Chicago's Haymarket Square, including a bomb thrown by an anarchist, led to the deaths of a dozen people & the injury of over 100 more.
The protests were successful, as eight-hour work days eventually did become the norm. Labor leaders, socialists, & anarchists around the world took the American strikes & their fallout as a rallying point, choosing May Day as a day for demonstrations, parades, & speeches. It was a major state holiday in the Soviet Union & other communist countries.
Labor Day is still celebrated on May 1 in countries around the world, & it is still often a day for protests & rallies. In recent years, these have often been targeted against globalization. Portland expects at least 5000 people to participate in our annual May Day parade & rally on the South Park Blocks.
The protests were successful, as eight-hour work days eventually did become the norm. Labor leaders, socialists, & anarchists around the world took the American strikes & their fallout as a rallying point, choosing May Day as a day for demonstrations, parades, & speeches. It was a major state holiday in the Soviet Union & other communist countries.
Labor Day is still celebrated on May 1 in countries around the world, & it is still often a day for protests & rallies. In recent years, these have often been targeted against globalization. Portland expects at least 5000 people to participate in our annual May Day parade & rally on the South Park Blocks.
I adored the film of CAMELOT when I was 13 years old. I saw it in the theatre, by myself, five times. I would eventually be in the musical three times, playing Merlin in high school & playing Mordred twice in summer stock. In high school, my best friend Rich & I would always re-write lyrics to the songs in our musicals. In Put On Your Sunday Clothes from Hello, Dolly!, we sang the lyric- "get out your beads & buckles & bows" as- "get out your creams & jellys & foams". We found this to be quite hysterical. In Camelot, we sang this Alan Jay Lerner lyric as - "It's May! The CRUSTY month of May!". We would sing in full voice, in production & nobody seemed to notice. I was & am, eternally a bad boy!
I think Alan Jay Lerner was a brilliant lyricist (just think of every song from My Fair Lady).
From Camelot, I offer:
It's May!
The lusty month of May!
That lovely month when ev'ryone goes
Blissfully astray
It's here!
That shocking time of year
When tons of wicked little thoughts
Merrily appear!
It's May! It's May!
That gorgeous holiday
When ev'ry maiden prays that her lad
Will be a cad!
It's mad! It's gay!
A libelous display!
Those dreary vows that ev'ryone takes
Ev'ryone breaks
Ev'ryone makes divine mistakes
The lusty month of May!
It's May!
The lusty month of May!
That darling month when ev'ryone throws
Self-control away
It's time to do
A wretched thing or two,
And try to make each precious day
One you'll always rue!
It's May! It's May!
The month of "yes you may",
The time for ev'ry frivolous whim,
Proper or "im"
It's wild! It's gay!
A blot in ev'ry way
The birds and bees with all of their vast
Amorous past
Gaze at the human race aghast,
The lusty month of May!
So...pick some posies, be one with the workers of the world & get a little lusty!
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