Union Songs
Until Another Man's Killed
A poem by Merv Lilley©Merv Lilley 1963
Music by Bill BerryIn Mt. Isa mine a man was killed,
Twelve hundred feet below,
A man crushed up by a fall of lead,
Twelve hundred feet below.The miners came to the surface then,
For twenty-four hours below
When a man is killed they mourn a man,
For twenty-four hours below.A Yankee cartel owned the mine,
So full of lead below,
A Yankee boss he watched the line,
Of the funeral from below."Well goddam man," at last he said,
" if you stop work for a man that's dead
You never will work again," he said,
And he was fairly blowing."If you stop work for twenty-four,
You never will work no goddam more;
We'll kill a man a day," he said,
" When we get really going."They bury their comrades with the rest,
And watch while his grave is filled, 0.
Then they go to work with a right good will,
UNTIL ANOTHER MAN'S KILLED, 0.
UNTIL ANOTHER MAN'S KILLED.
Notes
Many thanks to Merv Lilley for permission to add this poem to the Union Songs collection. It was published in What About The People a collection of poems by Dorothy Hewett and Merv Lilley published by the National Council of the Realist Writers in 1963.
Many thanks to Bill Berry who added the tune.
union songs..........a selection by mark gregory