They leave their dear wives and little ones, too,
To earn them a living as miners all do;
Poor hard-working miners, their troubles are great.
So often while mining they meet their sad fate.
(Ch.)
Only a miner killed under the ground,
Only a miner and one more is found;
Killed by some accident, there's no one can tell
Your mining's all over, poor miner, farewell.
Poor orphaned children, thrown out on the street
Ragged and hungry, with nothing to eat;
Their mothers are jobless and their fathers are dead,
Poor fatherless children, left crying for bread.
When I'm in Kentucky so often I meet
Poor coal miners’ children out on the street;
"How are you doing?" to them I said;
"We’re hungry, Aunt Molly, we're begging for bread."
To earn them a living as miners all do;
Poor hard-working miners, their troubles are great.
So often while mining they meet their sad fate.
(Ch.)
Only a miner killed under the ground,
Only a miner and one more is found;
Killed by some accident, there's no one can tell
Your mining's all over, poor miner, farewell.
Poor orphaned children, thrown out on the street
Ragged and hungry, with nothing to eat;
Their mothers are jobless and their fathers are dead,
Poor fatherless children, left crying for bread.
When I'm in Kentucky so often I meet
Poor coal miners’ children out on the street;
"How are you doing?" to them I said;
"We’re hungry, Aunt Molly, we're begging for bread."
Contributed by Alessandro - 2010/3/15 - 11:39
In realtà questo brano di Aunt Molly Jackson (parente stretta di Sarah Ogan Gunning e di Jim Garland) è basato su Only a Miner Killed, una poesia risalente al 1879 ed attribuita a John Wallace Crawford, detto “Captain Jack”, ranger, giornalista, cacciatore d’indiani, soldato e cantore dell’“Ovest Selvaggio”.
E quella poesia ispirò pure Only A Hobo a Bob Dylan.
E quella poesia ispirò pure Only A Hobo a Bob Dylan.
Bernart Bartleby - 2015/4/15 - 15:15
Language: English
Questa di Aunt Molly Jackson non la sola canzone basata sulla poesia ottocentesca Only a Miner Killed di John Wallace Crawford. Quello che segue è il testo di "The Hard Working Miner", di James (Blind Jim) Howard, violinista cieco di Harlan County, Kentucky, un brano che trovo in molti dischi ma prima di tutti in quello di Mike Seeger "Tipple, Loom & Rail", pubblicato dalla Folkways Records nel 1966. Ovviamente il brano non poteva mancare nella colonna sonora del film "Harlan County, USA", diretto da Barbara Kopple nel 1976...
Della colonna sonora di "Harlan County USA" fanno parte parecchie canzoni già presenti sul sito e altre – come questa - che inserirò trovandone i testi:
Della colonna sonora di "Harlan County USA" fanno parte parecchie canzoni già presenti sul sito e altre – come questa - che inserirò trovandone i testi:
1 - Coal Tattoo
2 - Shut Up in Coal Creek Mine
3 - Come All You Coal Miners
4 - Blue Diamond Mines
5 - The Yablonski Murder (Cold Blooded Murder)
6 - Last Train From Poor Valley
7 - Black Lung
8 - Dark As A Dungeon
9 - Trouble Among The Yearlings
10 - Lawrence Jones
11 - Coal Black Mining Blues
12 - Coal Miner's Grave
13 - The Death of Harry Simms
14 - Disaster At The Mannington Mine
15 - Cruel Willie (or Willie Duncan)
16 - Hard Working Miner
17 - Dream Of A Miner's Child
18 - And I Am Born To Die
19 - Clay County Miner
20 - One Morning In May
21 - Which Side Are You On?
22 – They Will Never Keep Us Down
2 - Shut Up in Coal Creek Mine
3 - Come All You Coal Miners
4 - Blue Diamond Mines
5 - The Yablonski Murder (Cold Blooded Murder)
6 - Last Train From Poor Valley
7 - Black Lung
8 - Dark As A Dungeon
9 - Trouble Among The Yearlings
10 - Lawrence Jones
11 - Coal Black Mining Blues
12 - Coal Miner's Grave
13 - The Death of Harry Simms
14 - Disaster At The Mannington Mine
15 - Cruel Willie (or Willie Duncan)
16 - Hard Working Miner
17 - Dream Of A Miner's Child
18 - And I Am Born To Die
19 - Clay County Miner
20 - One Morning In May
21 - Which Side Are You On?
22 – They Will Never Keep Us Down
THE HARD WORKING MINER
The hard working miner, the dangers are great,
So many while mining have met their sad fate.
While doing their duty as all miners do,
Shut off from the daylight and darling ones, too.
He's only a miner been killed in the ground,
Only a miner and one more is gone.
Killed by an accident, there's no one can tell
His mining's all over, poor miner, farewell.
He leaves his dear wife and little ones, too,
To earn them a living as all miners do.
But while he was working for those whom he loves
He met a sad fate from a boulder above.
He's only a miner been killed in the ground,
He's only a miner and one more is gone.
Killed by an accident, there's no one can tell
His mining's all over, poor miner, farewell.
The miner is gone, we'll see him no more,
God be with the miner wherever he goes.
God pity the miner, protect him as well,
Shield him from danger while down in the ground.
He's only a miner been killed in the ground,
Only a miner and one more is gone.
Killed by an accident, there's no one can tell
His mining's all over, poor miner, farewell.
The hard working miner, the dangers are great,
So many while mining have met their sad fate.
While doing their duty as all miners do,
Shut off from the daylight and darling ones, too.
He's only a miner been killed in the ground,
Only a miner and one more is gone.
Killed by an accident, there's no one can tell
His mining's all over, poor miner, farewell.
He leaves his dear wife and little ones, too,
To earn them a living as all miners do.
But while he was working for those whom he loves
He met a sad fate from a boulder above.
He's only a miner been killed in the ground,
He's only a miner and one more is gone.
Killed by an accident, there's no one can tell
His mining's all over, poor miner, farewell.
The miner is gone, we'll see him no more,
God be with the miner wherever he goes.
God pity the miner, protect him as well,
Shield him from danger while down in the ground.
He's only a miner been killed in the ground,
Only a miner and one more is gone.
Killed by an accident, there's no one can tell
His mining's all over, poor miner, farewell.
Contributed by B.B. - 2019/9/25 - 20:52
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Album “The Songs and Stories of Aunt Molly Jackson”, Folkways Records.
Songs sung by John Greenway
“Folksinger and Kentucky mountain midwife Aunt Molly Jackson caught the attention of Alan Lomax and Woody Guthrie with her stories and songs about the struggles of working-class life. Here presented by John Greenway, her work reflects genuine care for humanity and her furious fight against social injustice.” (Dall’introduzione al disco)
"I composed this song one day while I was walking along thinking of how soon a coal miner is forgotten after he is dead. The day I composed this song I never will forget; it was about three weeks after my own dear brother was killed. I found my brother‘s three oldest children out on the street. They told me they had been over to a store to try to get some food. They said 'We are out of money, and we have been all over town trying to get some groceries on time, but everyone has turned us down.' Then my brother‘s little blue-eyed boy looked up at me so sweet and said to me, ‘Aunt Molly, will you get us some food to eat?' So I walked along back home that evening, feeling so sad, and thinking of my brother’s dear children left without a dad. So I composed this song.”
(Dalla nota introduttiva alla canzone come dal libretto che accompagna il disco)