Disclaimer: "Paul Revere's Ride" belongs to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and Newsies belongs to Disney.
A/N: In celebration of Newsies opening on Broadway eight years ago today, I present to you said musical in the form of a loose parody of the classic children's poem "Paul Revere's Ride." The original source has a pretty complicated rhyme scheme, so I struggled a bit with its translation, but hopefully the similarities are still evident. Hope you enjoy it!
Jack Kelly's Strike
.
Listen, my children, as I retell
The story of newsboys refusing to sell:
In the month of July in the year ninety-nine,
Jack Kelly was lying 'neath silver star-shine,
His head full of dreams of the western frontier.
.
He said to his friend,
"If this life ain't your thing
And you's tired and weary of the jostle and fight,
Leave the city behind without a regret,
And think of a place where it's open and bright.
Just close your eyes, take a breath, come with me,
And I'll paint'cha a picture of what life could be
Without the dirt, the dark and the dread.
You'll be ridin' on ponies or runnin' instead
If you can hold on to the future ahead."
.
Then he said, "Dreamin's done," and with bellowing roar
Summoned the newsies to wake up before
It was time to head out to buy papes for the day.
They lined up, all joking and waiting to pay.
By the window sat Weasel, annoyed at them all,
With his brass-knuckled nephews, sneering and tall,
Ready to fight if it came to a brawl.
(And up in his office at the very same time,
Pulitzer was weighing The World's bottom line).
.
Meanwhile, David Jacobs through roadway and street
Hurries and worries with heavy heart,
Afraid of his family falling apart,
The accident bringing them to their knees.
The sound of a headline, the trample of feet,
And he's suddenly off to an auspicious start,
As the newsboys fight back, and the day is seized.
.
Then the bulls and the cops show up. Heartless and mean,
They turn the tide against the boys,
And Crutchie's screams above the noise
Cause Jack to panic as he flees the scene.
Back at his penthouse, he yells and he cries,
Tired and hopeless, sick of the lies,
Ready to leave, to never look back.
He belts out his anger; the scene fades to black.
(Meanwhile, a typewriter's clacking away;
Katherine Plumber has entered the fray,
And her words pow'r the push that will make Humpty crack).
.
Later, at Jacobi's, all despair
With the strike at a standstill, the future unclear,
Sober and silent until they hear
A cheerful announcement erasing their care.
A headline! Front page in The Sun,
Their story's out to everyone.
What jubilance Katherine brings,
And for a moment, all are kings!
So they sing and dance. They bring to bear
All of their joy, and then they share
The things they'll have once they have won.
(And in the distance, far away
A letter's written, just to say,
"Hold on, and don't give up the fight!"
A candle's glimmer in the dark of night).
.
Meantime, still hiding away from it all,
Jack's painting backdrops at Irving Hall
And he's thinking of how he can get away.
Now he hears the westward call;
He muses he might just leave today.
Then, inevitably, they appear:
Reporter, kid, and newsie peer,
All giving their reasons for his return
Though Jack's not sure that he can earn
Another chance to make wrongs right,
Dismayed by Crutchie's desperate plight.
But lo! As he hides, trying to draw back,
A question, and then a reptile fact!
Jack thinks there's a chance now, agrees to return.
They're going to make it, to get back on track
And The World and its chokehold are going to burn.
.
A flurry of plans for the rally next day,
A scheme set in motion, a shot in the dark,
And despite some misgiving, in Jack's heart a spark
Of kindling hope that they might find a way
To make old Joe compromise. Could they invite
The newspaper owner to speak on that night?
The thought just won't leave him until he's in sight
Of Putlizer's office. But to his dismay...
.
He is forced down the stairs and the cellar looms large.
The door's locked behind him; he's given the charge
To consider what might be if he just gives in,
Strikes down the strike without looking back,
By doing so keeping his family intact
And assuring their safety if Pulitzer wins.
.
It was time for the rally's start
When he slipped unnoticed into Irving Hall.
He said the words, playing his part;
The newsies balked and chaos fell.
Jack fled the scene, knowing too well
In saving them, he'd lost them all.
.
It was late in the night when he
Stopped by the penthouse one last time.
He knew it very well could be
The last time he took in the view.
As he scaled the ladder, sober, dismayed
He saw her there, drawings displayed,
Ready to fight for the cause anew
Her strategy prepared and primed.
.
It was quiet in the basement of The World
When stealthily they snuck inside.
The banner of freedom was unfurled,
And a stand was promised at morning's dawn.
Then the army deployed with weapons drawn
And took the news both far and wide
While Pulitzer was asleep in bed,
Not knowing he'd be first to fall
As through the city courage spread,
And change arrived...once and for all.
.
You know the rest from the play that you've seen,
How the newsies rejoiced in the finale scene,
How the gov'nor's help resolved it all,
Snyder in jail and Jack standing tall
With a job and a family, loyal and true -
Still somehow together for all they'd been through.
With reasons like these, there's no need for escape;
He kisses his sweetheart, then pays for his papes.
.
So through the stage and screen writers retell
The striking account of the newsboys' stand,
How when injustice was at hand
They stood up and refused to sell,
Raising a cry for the plight of the poor,
In a voice that shall echo forevermore,
For all who bore the unjust load
To whom fair pay was rightly owed,
Those toiling in sweatshop and fact'ry and street
Refusing to answer the sound of the bell,
And hark'ning instead to the marshaling beat:
The cry of the newsboys refusing to sell.