In Mt. Isa mine a man was killed,
Twelve hundred feet below,
A man crushed up by a fall of lead,
Twelve hundred feet below.
The miners came to the surface then,
For twenty-four hours below
When a man is killed they mourn a man,
For twenty-four hours below.
A Yankee cartel owned the mine,
So full of lead below,
A Yankee boss he watched the line,
Of the funeral from below.
"Well goddam man," at last he said,
" if you stop work for a man that's dead
You never will work again," he said,
And he was fairly blowing.
"If you stop work for twenty-four,
You never will work no goddam more;
We'll kill a man a day," he said,
" When we get really going.
"They bury their comrades with the rest,
And watch while his grave is filled, O.
Then they go to work with a right good will,
UNTIL ANOTHER MAN'S KILLED, O.
UNTIL ANOTHER MAN'S KILLED.
Twelve hundred feet below,
A man crushed up by a fall of lead,
Twelve hundred feet below.
The miners came to the surface then,
For twenty-four hours below
When a man is killed they mourn a man,
For twenty-four hours below.
A Yankee cartel owned the mine,
So full of lead below,
A Yankee boss he watched the line,
Of the funeral from below.
"Well goddam man," at last he said,
" if you stop work for a man that's dead
You never will work again," he said,
And he was fairly blowing.
"If you stop work for twenty-four,
You never will work no goddam more;
We'll kill a man a day," he said,
" When we get really going.
"They bury their comrades with the rest,
And watch while his grave is filled, O.
Then they go to work with a right good will,
UNTIL ANOTHER MAN'S KILLED, O.
UNTIL ANOTHER MAN'S KILLED.
Contributed by Bartleby - 2012/1/3 - 08:27
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Poesia scritta da Merv Lilley
Musica di Bill Berry
In “What About The People”, una raccolta di poesie di Dorothy Hewett e Merv Lilley pubblicata dal National Council of the Realist Writers nel 1963.
Testo trovato su Union Songs
Mount Isa è una città mineraria nel Queensland australiano. Lì dal 1923 ci sono le Mount Isa Mines, tra le miniere più produttive di sempre al mondo per quanto concerne l’estrazione di piombo, argento, rame e zinco. Nel 1964 – poco dopo l’ennesimo incidente cui si riferisce questa canzone – Mount Isa fu teatro di uno dei più lunghi e duri scioperi dei minatori che la storia ricordi, 8 mesi ininterrotti di chiusura dei pozzi che portarono il governo della regione alla proclamazione dello stato d’emergenza. A capeggiare la lotta, il carismatico Tom Dougherty, detto “Big Tom”, a capo dell’Australian Workers' Union dal 1944 al 1972, anno della sua morte.