This Land Is Mine
Now we’re continuing with the theme of songs we’re singing in our show on Friday March 22nd. Two of this trio are protest songs, one of which featured in our last show. They all have a connection to people who worked the land. Here’s part 2 of ‘Meet the Songs’…
Sting – We Work The Black Seam. Protest song from Sting’s first solo album.
He was christened Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner and born in Wallsend in the autumn of 1951. Often wearing a black and yellow jumper, his nickname Sting came from his days with the Phoenix Jazzmen. His fellow bandmates thinking he looked like a bee or a wasp! The English musician, singer, songwriter and actor was lead vocalist for rock band The Police from 1977 to 1984 and continued with a very successful solo career from 1985.
Sting’s protest songs were well-known through his time with The Police and as a solo artist. His first album ‘The Dream of the Blue Turtles’ in 1985 featured “We Work the Black Seam”. It was recorded around the time of the miners’ strike which led to the collapse of the British coal industry under Margaret Thatcher’s conservative government. The song was written from the view of a coal miner. It protested the steady progression to nuclear power and resulting redundancy for miners. Though Sting sympathised with the miners he did recognise that times had changed. The anger in his song was at the way the change came about and the concern for the future. We see these themes in his lyrics, the miners “blood has stained the coal”, the government’s “economic theory makes no sense”, and “one day in a nuclear age” the government may understand the miners’ rage.
Sting and Jerusalem…?
Many have also made the connection between a section of Sting’s lyrics and William Blake’s poem “And did those feet in ancient time”. Or Jerusalem to you and I! Most notably the inclusion of the lyrics “dark satanic mills” extending the original meaning to the impact of nuclear developments on the coal mining industry. More subtly the phrase “we walk through ancient forest lands” bearing resemblance to Blake’s poem line “and did those feet in ancient time”.
Kate Rusby – The Recruited Collier. A song that formed part of the British folk music revival after the war.
Kate Rusby is an English folk singer-songwriter from Barnsley in South Yorkshire. Sometimes referred to as the “Barnsley Nightingale”, she is now one of the best known contemporary English folk singers. After learning to play the guitar, the fiddle, and the piano as well as singing, she released her breakthrough album in 1995. “The Recruited Collier” featured on the collaboration with her friend Kathryn Roberts and also on Kate’s compilation album Ten in 2003. Kate first learned the song from her mother who, in turn had been taught it by a friend. Following the typical tradition of passing folk songs on from one person to another and through the generations.
The song first emerged as part of the post-war revival of British folk music. The exact date and credit for where the song originates remains a mystery. Though the song has been adapted and performed by many different songwriters and artists. There are claims that it was originally written by Robert Anderson and the now widely known version was remastered by A.L. Lloyd. The song tells the story of a young woman in despair as her lover, a collier, goes off to war.
He was enlisted by the unscrupulous recruitment methods of 18th century British Army leaders. The army wasn’t a desirable profession with low pay, flogging and barbaric discipline. Traditional methods of recruitment involved picking up homeless and destitute men. In an attempt to increase the quality of the average army recruit, colonels would lead tours of recruiting parties round towns and villages to fill their quotas. They would ply young colliers with liquor and induce them to join up when they were too drunk and confused to resist.
Cockersdale – Jarrow Song. Another protest song, this time inspired by the Jarrow Crusade
You can more read about “Jarrow Song” in last term’s meet the songs series. This is the only song to feature again in this show’s line up. Fitting with both the theme of songs to bring change for the better and honouring those who worked the land. For this term, we are referring to the strong mining connection and heritage of the north eastern town of Jarrow.
Performed by West Yorkshire folk group, Cockersdale, and written by Graham Pirt, one of the group’s members. Graham was born in Jarrow and he wrote in his lyrics about the famous Jarrow March. 200 “crusaders” marched from Jarrow to London protesting against unemployment and poverty. The discovery of coal in the 17th century and the subsequent rise of shipbuilding in 19th century had a huge impact on the population of Jarrow. Their eventual demise and the devastating closure of Palmer’s shipyard was the catalyst that led to the Jarrow March. On their way to London the crusaders sang songs as included in the lyrics, “songs of mills, songs of mines, songs of shipyards that stood by the Tyne”. The main mine Graham was referring to was the Jarrow Colliery in his hometown.
