Union Songs

The Farmer & The Miner Should Be Friends

A Song by Warren Fahey@Warren Fahey 2007
Tune: She'll Be Coming ‘Round The Mountain

- [play]

The Farmer and the Miner should be friends.
The Farmer and the Miner should be friends.
'Cause they both slave, sweat and toil,
Both dig the rich black soil,
Yes, the Farmer and the Miner should be friends.

The Miners they know lots about the land.
The miners they know lots about the land.
How to leech it, and bleach it.
And even try and pinch it
Yes the miners know lots about the land.

The Farmers they are born of the Land,
The Farmers they are born of the Land,
They've fought drought, floods and fires,
Now they're fighting boardroom liars.
Yes, the miner and the farmer are at war.

The farmers and the miners are at war,
The farmers and the miners are at war,
Just to keep their family stations,
They're forced to fightin' corporations.
Yes, the farmer and the miner are at war

The miners they all have a healthy appetite,
The miners they all have a healthy appetite,
They snap, wheeze, gulp and swallow,
Any prime farm land where they can wallow,
Yes the farmer and the miner are at war

The Miners keep saying all's okay,
It's important to the nation that they stay,
But the buggers are not grazing,
They are badly misbehaving
Yes the farmers and the miners are at war

It's David and Goliath at war again,
It's David and Goliath at war again,
The Big One is a bully, with determination fully,
Focused on the company's endless bottom line,
But the farmer and the miner should be friends

The Farmer is a cog in the big wheel,
The Farmer is a cog in the big wheel,
Coal is nice for power and heating,
But it fails when it comes to eating.
So the farmer and the miner should be friends.

The miners they all have greedy appetites,
The miners they all have greedy appetites,
They want all the land and water,
And they’d even take your daughter,
No, the miners and the farmers are at war.

So how do we resolve these men of war?
So how do we resolve these men of war?
Give them tickets to a show? is that the way to go?
No! the answer lies in the real value of the soil.
No! the answer lies in the real value of the soil.

Coda
Farming folks should stick together,
Farming  folks should all be pals.
Miners dance with farmer's daughters,
Farmers dance with the miner's gals!
Not bloody likely!

Notes

Many thanks to Warren Fahey for permission to add this song to the Union Songs web collection

Warren writes:
"I am about to tour the NW region of NSW and a farmer mate of mine has alerted me to the fact that BHP is bullying a lot of farmers (with the NSW Gov's support) trying to mine on their land - whether they
like it or not. My mate's ... property has been in the family through ups and downs for over 150 years and BHP has advised him they plan to mine there (and it is endorsed by the gov!). Coal mines stuff up the environment and should be told to piss off.

This coming weekend I am performing at The Longyard Hotel Tamworth the same night as the BHP sponsored Sydney Symphony Orchestra - the last verse of the song refers to a local kerfuffle where BHP has given free tickets to all the Tamworth aldermen. Some aldermen have refused them!"

Visit Warren's website at http://warrenfahey.com/

Find more of Warren Fahey's work on this site

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union songs..........a selection by mark gregory