Friday, June 23, 2017

Flogging Molly Friday: 'They're only paddies just paddies, don't dig them too deep...'

'...you need all your strength boys and they're replaced easily.'





Well, I worked on a railroad, for tuppins a day
I drank down one penny, the other I'd save
I hammered my hammer, for God knows how long
Well, into madness, with each setting sun
I put my hair down, and I dreamt you were here
With me by the old tree, where no one could care
Far away boys, far away boys, away from you now 


I'm lying with my sweetheart, in her arm's I'll be found
T
hen the sun belched upon me, you were no longer here
Lying in you place was my hammer and my gear
So I stamped out the fire that kept us both warm
The ashes were falling, like the snowdrops of old
We came to a mountain, dynamite and she'll blow
A big hole in that rock, like the one in my soul

We buried four workmen, they dug themselves well
From four empty coffins, to four early graves
"They're only paddies just paddies, don't dig them too deep
You'll need all your strength boys, they're replaced easily"
With the heat I was melting into your sweet lips
Ah, your kiss takes me back, takes me back from all this
Far away boys, far away boys, away from you now
I'm lying with my sweetheart, in her arm's I'll be found


Someone said it was Christmas, not a tree was in sight
The only thing growing was my will to die
'Till the gaffer said "Men, your work here is done"
He said "I'll see you in hell, on that train we died for"
Never again, will I smell your sweet drink
But a piss-stained old gutter where, your lips used to be


Far away boys, far away boys, away from you now
I'm lying with my sweetheart, in her arm's I'll be found
Far away boys, far away boys, away from you now
I'm lying with my sweetheart, in her arm's I'll be found


"Far Away Boys", but Irish-American Celtic punk band Flogging Molly off their 2000 debut album Swagger. About Irish labourers, subjected to super-exploitation in horrendous and frequently deadly conditions, to build railways in England or possibly America (both featured cheap, disposable Irish labour, but the phrase "tuppence" in the first verse suggests the song is set in England).

This horrific exploitation of migrant workers is not just a thing from past centuries -- as the frequently deadly conditions for migrants workers preparing for the World Cup in Qatar shows. 

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