Damned earworms

[jhetley]

Yanno, if someone was to come up with the full and definitive text of THE BALLAD OF SPRINGHILL, I'd think highly of that kind person. I've been poking around and I still can't find the songbook, but keep coming up with snatches like:

There's blood on the stone where the miners lie,
Six long miles from the sun and sky, boys,
Six long miles from the sun and sky.

And I can't remember whether that was something cooked up in a 3 AM jam session with Mike Seeger and the New Lost City Ramblers under the influence of various chemicals, or what....

Much too long ago.

Comments

[rosefox]

This one?

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

The PP&M version got abbreviated -- probably to fit a record cut. But they do have that "sun and sky" phrase, and I may have created the rest out of vapor and dead brain cells.

[coffeeem.livejournal.com]

From Folksinger's Wordbook (Fred and Irwin Silber, ed.):

Ballad of Springhill
(The Springhill Mine Disaster)
by Ewan McColl and Peggy Seeger, copyright 1960, Stormking Music

In the town of Springhill, Nova Scotia,
Down in the dark of the Cumberland Mine,
There's blood on the coal and the miners lie
In the roads that never saw sun nor sky,
In the roads that never saw sun nor sky.

In the town of Springhill, you don't sleep easy,
Often the earth will tremble and roll,
When the earth is restless, miners die,
Bone and blood is the price of coal (twice).

In the town of Springhill, Nova Scotia,
Late in the year of fifty-eight,
Day still comes and the sun still shines,
But it's dark as the grave in the Cumberland Mine,
Dark as the grave in the Cumberland Mine.

Down at the coal face, miners working,
Rattle of the belt and the cutter's blade,
Rumble of rock and the walls close round
The living and the dead men two miles down (twice).

Twelve men lay two miles from the pitshaft,
Twelve men lay in the dark and sang,
Long, hot days in the miner's tomb,
It was three feet high and a hundred long,
Three feet high and a hundred long.

Three days passed and the lamps gave out,
And Caleb Rushton he up and said:
"There's no more water nor light nor bread
So we'll live on songs and hope instead.
Live on songs and hope instead."

Listen for the shouts of the bareface miners,
Listen through the rubble for a rescue team,
Six hundred feet of coal and slag,
Hope imprisoned in a three-foot seam (twice).

Eight days passed and some were rescued,
Leaving the dead to lie alone,
Through all their lives they dug a grave,
Two miles of earth for a marking stone (twice).

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

ThankyouThankyouThankyou!

We played around with it, way back when, and I ended up with garble in my head. And the version I found on the net didn't help, being garbled itself.

Of course, some of the singers I knew never did their stuff the same way twice. Even sober.

[coffeeem.livejournal.com]

Yes, just how much does the concept of "the folk tradition" have to do with beer? (grin.)

[wcg.livejournal.com]

The part of it that can't afford whisky.

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

Or hadn't remembered to keep that "sack of seeds."

[wcg.livejournal.com]

True.

[dsgood.livejournal.com]

The Digital Tradition at http://mudcat.org has a slightly different version, plus two other songs about the same disaster -- one in French:

0.8511 - SPRINGHILL MINE DISASTER
0.8164 - LA COMPLAINTE DE SPRINGHILL
0.7742 - SPRINGHILL MINE DISASTER (1891)

SPRINGHILL MINE DISASTER

Dm C Dm C
In the town of Springhill, Nova Scotia
Dm G Dm
Down in the dark of the Cumberland Mine
G C Am
there's blood on the coal and the miners lie
Dm C Dm C A
In the roads that never saw sun nor sky (2x)

In the town of Springhill, you don't sleep easy
Often the earth will tremble and roll
When the earth is restless, miners die
Bone and blood is the price of coal

In the town of Springhill, Nova Scotia
Late in the year of fifty-eight
Day still comes and the sun still shines
But it's dark as the grave in the Cumberland mine

Down at the coal face, miners working
Rattle of the belt and the cutter's blade
Rumble of the rock and the walls closed round
The living and the dead men two miles down

Twelve men lay two miles from the pitshaft
Twelve men lay in the dark and sang
Long hot days in the miners tomb
It was three feet high and a hundred long

Three days past and the lamps gave out
Our foreman rose on his elbow and said
We're out of light and water and bread
So we'll live on song and hope instead

Listen for the shouts of the barefaced miners
Listen thru the rubble for a rescue team
Six hundred feet of coal and slag
Hope imprisoned in a three foot seam

Eight days passes and some were rescued
Leaving the dead to lie alone
Thru all their lives they dug their grave
Two miles of earth for a marking stone

In the town of Springhill, you don't sleep easy
Often the earth will tremble and roll
When the earth is restless, miners die
Bone and blood is the price of coal

Copyright Sing Out
by Peggy Seeger, recorded by Ewan MacColl
@mining @death @work
filename[ SPRINGHI
TUNE FILE: SPRINGHI
CLICK TO PLAY
SOF

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

I think this may tie in with the discussion of beer, whiskey, or other substances above...