Song of Suffering

"Song of the Shirt" is very realistic to what women had to deal with in the 1800s. The song talks about women working long hours in clothing factories. They lived in poverty and felt like slaves in the workplace. These women were left hungry and broke in the dirty factories. The word "work" is repeated multiple times to emphasize how much these women worked. Women must have gotten carpal tunnel syndrome and arthritis often from constantly working with their hands pulling a needle and thread. Bosses would lock up the doors of the factories so employees couldn't leave early from work. Unfortunately, these events were commonplace. One can only imagine what women had to endure to make end's meet during the 1800s in the United States.