Скачать или смотреть 1293. Big Coal Don't Like This Man At All (Original) - with Marco Acca on guitar

This song is a tribute to Charles Scott Howard, from Southeastern Kentucky, a tireless fighter for miners' rights, especially with regard to safety, and to his lawyer, Tony Oppegard, who sent me this newspaper article on which I based the song: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09...

The melody is partly based on a tune used by Woody Guthrie, who wrote many songs in support of working men, including miners.

My thanks to Marco Acca for his great guitar accompaniment at very short notice (less than an hour).

This song is too long to post here in full. The complete song can be found here: https://raymondsfolkpage.wordpress.co...

Partial lyrics and chords:
C ........................................ F ................ C
Mr Charles Scott Howard told the MSHA
....... G7 ............................................ F .......................... C
That using faulty mine seals can blow men’s lives away.
...................................................................... F .......................... C
When the mine seals fail to do their job, that’s when miners die.
.... G7 ................................................. C
Twelve men died at the Sago Mine; ask the owners why.
...... F .................................... C
At Darby Mine another five died before too long.
........ F ....................... C .................................. D ............................... G7
The reason was the seals were weak, and that’s when things go wrong.
........... F .................................................... C
Their widows urged in Lexington, “Don’t listen to Big Coal.
G7 ................................... F ........................ C
Strict seal regulations, that must be your goal.”

Cumberland River Coal Company thought they were doing fine
Till Howard aired a video of the seals down in their mine.
“How dare this troublesome miner take films behind our backs
Of water spurting out through the broken mine seals’ cracks!”
Though Howard didn’t name the mine, they knew it was his own.
Turning on the audio was how they made it known.
He said, “They built those seals with the least man hours they could.
It’s the cheapest way to do it, and surely that’s no good.”
............... F ........................................... C
When it comes to miners’ safety, he’s always on the ball.
F ................... G7 ..................... C
Big coal don’t like this man at all.

Mr Charles Scott Howard, he says what he feels.
“They shouldn’t be allowed to build old, crappy seals.
It’s an awful shame them fellers had to be smothered to death;
For the safety of the miners, I’ll fight till my last breath.”
When the officials saw that video they kicked up quite a row.
“I want somebody at that Cumberland mine right now!”
It wasn’t long till Frazier heard about what had been done.
“It’s that whistleblowing troublemaking Howard; he’s the one!”

It’s safety versus profits, Howard has no doubt,
When miners are endangered, he knows he must speak out.
They’ve fired him and fined him, tried to put him in his place,
But the courts just reinstate him. He always wins his case.
“When you bite the hand that feeds you, that’s when the pressure mounts.
‘Cause when you’re underneath the ground, coal is all that counts.
I’m sorry Mr. Frazier if your hand feels my bites,
But I must uphold the safety code and fight for miners’ rights.”
When it comes to miners’ safety, he’s always on the ball.
Big coal don’t like this man at all.

Continued here: https://raymondsfolkpage.wordpress.co...

You can see a playlist of my mining songs here: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list...

You can hear a playlist of my original songs (in alphabetical order) here:
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list...

You can watch a playlist of my collaborations with YouTube friends:
   • YouTube Friends  

Lyrics and chords of many of my songs are no longer available, as my website has expired. I am currently posting lyrics to the information panels on all my videos and those that are too long to post in full will be found on my new website: https://raymondsfolkpage.wordpress.com