Ispy4

I wanted to write a song about the condition of the local mining areas ten years after the miners strike. I started with The Colliers Rant a well known song from the north-east and reputedly sung as the anthem when the mines were nationalised in the 40s. ‘Hence the Grimethorpe Band played the miners anthem as a tribute to halcyon days’. I also incorporated the first line of the chorus ‘follow the horses Johnny me laddie’ to try and create a metaphor between horses being put out to graze and the miners. The second verse refers to Arthur Scargill who was proved right.

You dug to survive like a mole underground,
risking your life just to keep the bills down
And what spare cash you made well you spent in this town
You were born and brought up in this place

Chorus

There’s a hole in the ground where the money came from
There’s hole in this town now the old mine has gone
and the shop fronts are bordered from despair and fear
With no chance of work and no signs of the old winding gear

Chorus

One man knew a decade ago,
that the mines would be dead along with king coal
So its time to stand firm don’t give into the dole
Remember your sons and your daughters

Chorus

So you fought like a dog to keep the old ways,
for the nurses the workers and their rights to a say
But the times little change as back in old days
Betrayed by all trades and their leaders

Chorus

And the Grimethorpe band played the miners’ anthem,
as a tribute to halcyon days
Sing follow the horses oh Johnny my laddie
And the miners were forced out to graze

There’s a hole in the ground where the money came from,
remember your past and the things you have done
And don’t ever forget your part in that year
And the name and the faces of those who shut the old winding gear