Find a vein and drain the black gold.
Hoping to god, that the timbers hold.
Like my father before me, it’s all I know,
We live only to harvest the coal.
Mine owners mercy is shallow as a grave
Living in shantytowns, we got no say.
14 hour shifts and such a meager wage
And Mother Jones can’t help us now anyway. Anway.
We’ll take the roads. We’ll take the train by force.
O deliver us Lord from the gathering storm
Lay down your bible, take up your gun.
Blair Mountain, here we come.
Red bandanas tell us what side you’re on.
We’re the Rednecks of the union - 1921
We leave tonight 13000 strong.
We’ll take the fight to Blair Mountain before the dawn.
We’ll take the roads. We’ll take the train by force.
O deliver us Lord from the gathering storm
Lay down your bibles, take up your guns.
Blair Mountain, here we come.
I fight for my father still buried in the mine
I fight for my son – so he’ll have a better life.
We’re soldiers of the Great War and it ain’t right
To treat a man like a dog just to make a dime.
We’ll take the roads. We’ll take the train by force.
O deliver us Lord from the gathering storm
Lay down your bibles, take up your guns.
Blair Mountain, here we come.
Find a vein and drain the black gold.
You better hope to God that the timbers hold.
Hoping to god, that the timbers hold.
Like my father before me, it’s all I know,
We live only to harvest the coal.
Mine owners mercy is shallow as a grave
Living in shantytowns, we got no say.
14 hour shifts and such a meager wage
And Mother Jones can’t help us now anyway. Anway.
We’ll take the roads. We’ll take the train by force.
O deliver us Lord from the gathering storm
Lay down your bible, take up your gun.
Blair Mountain, here we come.
Red bandanas tell us what side you’re on.
We’re the Rednecks of the union - 1921
We leave tonight 13000 strong.
We’ll take the fight to Blair Mountain before the dawn.
We’ll take the roads. We’ll take the train by force.
O deliver us Lord from the gathering storm
Lay down your bibles, take up your guns.
Blair Mountain, here we come.
I fight for my father still buried in the mine
I fight for my son – so he’ll have a better life.
We’re soldiers of the Great War and it ain’t right
To treat a man like a dog just to make a dime.
We’ll take the roads. We’ll take the train by force.
O deliver us Lord from the gathering storm
Lay down your bibles, take up your guns.
Blair Mountain, here we come.
Find a vein and drain the black gold.
You better hope to God that the timbers hold.
Contributed by Bernart Bartleby - 2014/12/10 - 16:59
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Scritta da Louise Mosrie e Mike Richardson
Nell’album intitolato “Home”
La “battaglia di Blair Mountain” (Logan County, West Virginia, dal 25 agosto al 2 settembre del 1921) è stata la più importante e violenta insurrezione armata avvenuta negli USA dall’epoca della Guerra Civile.
All’inizio degli anni 20 i sindacalisti dell’United Mine Workers (UMW) e i militanti dell’International Workers of the World (IWW) cercarono di organizzare gli sfruttatissimi minatori del West Virginia. La risposta delle compagnie, dei loro agenti privati e “strikebreakers” e delle forze di polizia fu la stessa del 1912 (massacro di Paint Creek) e del 1914 (Ludlow Massacre). Ma nelle contee di Mingo e di Logan i minatori non si fecero cogliere di sorpresa e risposero armi in pugno agli agenti delle compagnie e alla polizia, prima resistendo a Matewan il 19 maggio 1920 (dove furono uccise sette guardie private) e poi a Blair Mountain dove tra l’agosto ed il settembre del 1921 oltre 10.000 minatori armati si confrontarono con 2.000 uomini organizzati in milizia dalla compagnia Logan County Coal Operators Association, che non esitò ad usare aeroplani privati per bombardare i lavoratori in sciopero. Prima che il presidente Warren Harding mandasse le truppe federali sul terreno rimasero un centinaio di minatori ed una trentina di agenti della compagnia.
Nel breve termine l’esito del confronto fu sfavorevole al movimento sindacale che subì una forte repressione giudiziaria (un migliaio i minatori in carcere, poi graziati da Coolidge nel 1925) e vide un crollo delle adesioni all’UMW. Ma quella delle compagnie fu una vittoria di Pirro perché dalla battaglia di Blair Mountain - e anche dall’analisi degli errori commessi – il sindacato trasse nuovo vigore rafforzando le unioni e le loro federazioni come l’American Federation of Labor (AFL) ed il Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) [fonte: en.wikipedia]
Su questo episodio del 1921 si veda anche Battle of Blair Mountain di David Rovics.