Workers' songs to welcome the birth of New China

"We workers have power, hey!

We workers have power.

Busy at work every day, hey!

Busy every day.

It has built high-rise buildings, built railways and coal mines, and transformed the world into a different world......"

Composed during the Northeast Liberation War, the song "We Workers Have Power", with its sonorous rhythm and concise lyrics, passionately praises the high fighting spirit of the workers in the liberated areas who work hard and go all out to support the front, and vividly portrays the tall image of the working class in overcoming difficulties and transforming the world.

Create hymns to the greatness of the workers. In the northeast in 1947, the Kuomintang and the Communist Party were about to usher in the final contest, and at this time, in the northeast of the national control area and the liberated area, the workers presented two completely different states. On the one hand, the workers in the Kuomintang areas frequently staged collective strikes and demonstrations in many places to oppose dictatorship and civil war; on the other hand, the workers in the liberated areas stepped up production in full swing, vigorously launched meritorious service movements, and rushed to support the front line with all their might, and the workers' vigorous support made important contributions to the final victory of the CPC in leading the people to win the liberation of Northeast China. How to sing the praises of the great spirit of the working class in the new historical period of always standing at the forefront of the tide, bravely shouldering heavy burdens, and being the masters of the country through music was a topic of the times facing the revolutionary music creators at that time, and the people's musician Marco keenly perceived and provoked this historical mission.

Marco came to the Jiamusi Power Station in the liberated area of North Manchuria, and as soon as he entered the factory, he was shocked by the scene in front of him, and slogans such as "All for the front line" and "For New China, we work hard" were posted everywhere. Entering the workshop, Marco was even more fascinated by the thrilling scenes, with the smoke from the towering chimneys, the blazing boiler blazing, the heavy air hammer, the flying belt, and the deafening noise...... The majestic development scene of the Northeast industry and the heroic and unrestrained fighting spirit of the workers have deeply infected this musician who has been working in the countryside.

During the break, Marco gathered with the workers and listened to their voices. Some workers talked about their hardships during the Japanese invasion, while others shared their confidence and expectations for a new society and a new life. A master listened and sang "The Four Seasons Song of the Workers", with a little hoarse in his simple voice, but it deeply infected the people present. A female member sang a song praising the peasants' turnover, "The Fifth Watch of the Crescent Moon", and the workers present liked it very much, and asked to hear the song about the liberation of the workers, which stumped Marco, and said: "This—we haven't made it up yet!" At this moment, Marco personally felt the deep desire of the workers for complete liberation, understood their pride and revolutionary determination as the masters of the new society, felt the overwhelming enthusiasm and tremendous strength of the workers after the liberation, and eagerly aspired to express these strong desires through songs. He felt the urgency of creating a feature for the working class.

Draw strength from the working masses. Mao Zedong emphasized at the Yan'an Forum on Literature and Art that literary and artistic workers must go to the masses. Marco put on his overalls and walked into the workshop, picked up the hammer and forged the iron, sweat sliding off the bridge of his nose again and again. The experience of eating and living with the workers made Marco deeply feel the enthusiasm for production and the resolute, brave and optimistic spirit of the workers, and witnessed the great contributions made by the working class to the revolution and construction, which provided Marco with fresh and vivid literary and artistic materials and a steady stream of creative inspiration.

Soon after, Marco completed the first draft of We Workers Have Power. In the first draft, the name of the song was "We Workers Have Power", and later "I" was changed to "We", although there was only a one-word difference, but it made a sense of intimacy spontaneously arise and a sense of pride jumped on the paper; in the first draft, "built a high-rise power plant" was changed to "built a high-rise building", "the boiler was started and the electric lights were turned on by the iron gate" was changed to "the machine was started and the hammer was raised and jingled" Such changes not only enriched the picture sense of the song, vividly portrayed the enthusiastic scene of workers' labor, but also further affirmed the outstanding contributions made by the working class to the victory of the revolution and industrial construction. In the first draft, in order to meet the needs of the Liberation War at that time, there were lyrics of "in order to fight Lao Chiang", and later the members of the art troupe went to the workers to teach singing, and found that "fighting" and "big" were easy to confuse, so they changed this sentence to "for liberation". Such a revision not only made the song more catchy, but also made the revolutionary goal of liberation clearer and more vigorous. After the song was finalized, once it was published, it spread to the inside and outside of the Great Wall like a wing, and it was sung throughout the country from Jiamusi, from before liberation to today, becoming the first high-spirited war song sung by the working class when it marched towards New China.

It has become a musical classic that spans the ages. "We Workers Have Power" has not only become a well-known classic, but also provided many successful experiences for literary and art workers worthy of reference.

The theme chosen for literary and artistic creation must be positive, publicize the party's policies, embody the voice of the masses, and express the voice of the times. "We Workers Have Power" shows that the working class after turning over realizes its great strength, realizes that it is the creator of the world, and intensifies production and supports the front line in order to achieve its own complete liberation. This is in line with the inner state of mind of the workers at that time, reflecting their voices, and the workers have expressed it with actions, so the song has the basic conditions for wide circulation and rapid dissemination among the workers.

Songwriting should choose the expression methods that the masses like to see, and sing in the musical language of the nation and the masses. On the one hand, the use of this kind of language must be drawn from the actual life of the masses and conceived and acquired from their understanding of their thoughts and feelings; on the other hand, literary and artistic workers also need to pay attention to learning the existing folk musical language, exploring the positive and healthy elements in it, and absorbing the nutrients and essence of it to enrich their works. The creation of "We Workers Have Power" not only pays attention to the collection of materials in the front line, but also incorporates many elements such as Northeast Yangge, labor horns and folk songs, which is also an important factor for the song to be widely recognized and enthusiastically sung among the masses.

Literary and artistic creation should pay attention to digging deep into the unique characteristics of the target group and expressing its unique temperament and character. "We Workers Have Power" has an in-depth excavation of the character characteristics of the worker group. The working class is resolute, straightforward, and does not procrastinate, they are vivid, concise, without hypocrisy and politeness, categorical, and do not talk empty words; for these, the songs strive to be clean and short in rhythm, and do not drag on the mud; the working class is also heavy, confident, and firm, they do not fantasize, do not exaggerate, and do not impulsively, so they create tunes with a solid and confident style as the theme; the working class is optimistic and upward, they are not sad, not negative, not moaning without illness, they are vigorous, energetic, hearty, lively, so that the music is selected to unfold in a turbulent and vigorous style.

"We Workers Have Power" is a song that can inspire the aspirations of all working people, and it is sung throughout the country. In 2009, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the song was selected as one of the "100 Patriotic Songs Recommended by the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China".

For more than 70 years, the high-spirited melody of "We Workers Have Power" has accompanied the construction and development of New China, inspiring generation after generation of workers and working people to grow up with the motherland and forge ahead with the times.