Old Clothes (The Leicestershire Miner)

from Legends of Leicester and Leicestershire - volume 2 by Steve Cartwright/DaveTaylor

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about

The coalmining industry in Leicestershire was destroyed by the Thatcher government in the wake of the 1984/5 miners’ strike. The landscape once dotted with the familiar slagheaps and winding gear is now populated by quiet rural villages, though many of the ex-miners are still alive to recount the tales of these times. The final insult came when Leicestershire County Council decided to close the Snibston Colliery Museum due to financial restraints, almost as if trying to airbrush out the industrial heritage of the Coalville area. At least the introduction of the National Forest is making a picturesque and environmentally friendly landscape for North West Leicestershire. This song is in tribute to those ex-Leicestershire miners, some of whom are friends of ours on the folk scene.

lyrics

I look back with mixed feelings that taste of bittersweet,
I look ahead at the changing road that winds beneath my feet
I look now at these ghosts that haunt the cloisters deep within
Like the dust that still seeps from the pores of my skin

So let’s welcome Woody home. He’s been gone for too long,
He’ll sit down with John Barleycorn and celebrate in song,
And when the dust is laid, he’ll sit fishing by the stream,
He’ll throw away those old clothes, and watch black turn to green..

I look up to the bright blue sky long hidden from our sight,
I look down through the darkness now seen in a different light
I look around like with new eyes to these valleys, lanes and hills
Those dak heaps covered with the grass and swaying daffodils

So let’s welcome Woody home. He’s been gone for too long

I look here as all those scars heal over with the years,
I look there at those seeds of conflict , blood and sweat and tears
I look everywhere at the men of straw that sell off all your dreams
They come and go like dry leaves that float away downstream..

So let’s welcome Woody home. He’s been gone for too long (x2)

credits

from Legends of Leicester and Leicestershire - volume 2, released November 15, 2020
Martin Tabraham - whistle

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about

Dave Taylor Leicester, UK

I write both serious and comedy songs. 6 solo CDs to date and collaborations with Steve Cartwright -"Legends of Leicester/Leicestershire". "All at Sea" shantyish album. Folk based for the most part - when people ask where the ideas come from I can say with honesty -"not drugs!!".. Currently working on a new album "Aspects of Lurve" hopefully out later in 2024. ... more