Greg MacPherson: folk de combate.
- Artista: Greg MacPherson
- Sello: G7 Welcoming Committee (www.g7welcomingcommittee.com)
- Distribuición en España: No tiene.
- Título: Maintenance
- Fecha de edición: 23 de marzo de 2004
- Formato: CD EP
- Tiempo total: 18:44
- Track Listing: 1. Wide Turn // 2. Bankrobber // 3. Slow Stroke // 4. Company Store // 5. Good Times
Description
Those who've seen Winnipeg songwriter Greg MacPherson perform solo can attest to the captivating energy and passion he can project with just his vocal chords and a guitar. Maintenance, Greg's first recording since 2002's Good Times Coming Back Again, captures this intensity with 5 solo acoustic tracks recorded at various points and locations throughout 2003. It includes two unreleased songs, two solo renditions of tracks from Good Times and a cover of The Clash's Bankrobber.
Most notable is the inclusion of Company Store, which is one of Macpherson's most popular and requested songs, despite never having been recorded before. The song is a strident, folk-styled true story about MacPherson's grandfather who worked the mines in Glace Bay, NS.
"The song Company Store is my way of pointing out that we have a colourful and acrimonious history that should be remembered and learned from," says MacPherson. "It is a narrative about recognizing injustice and doing something about it. It's based on a story my father tells about my Grandfather's participation in the burning down of a mining company store. This story could describe many of the Cape Bretoners of his generation, if not coal miners then steel workers, if not steel workers then fishermen, if not the working men then their wives, mothers and sisters. It's a testament to who we are, where we came from, and what we're capable of".
Cuando tengan ustedes a bien de descargarse este EP y escuchen The Company Store, sólo les saldrá cantar con el puño bien alto:
The Company Store
I slammed the door at quarter to four
I was headed for the company store
“I’ll watch my children starve no more
Tonight I’m going to feed them”
“I haven’t worked in 40 days
For 23 I’ve had no pay
In a week I’ll have no place to stay
In an hour they’ll have to kill me”
On the way I met big Johnny Hines
The strongest man in Sydney Mines
I told big Johnny of my plight
His voice grew loud with anger
“Todays as good a day to die
As any that’ll come to mind
I have at home a sickly wife
And I haven’t worked since Easter”
We hadn’t worked since easter
Half the town’ll die from the mining of the coal
The other half’ll leave when the mine decides to close
The people who are left will starve to death at the hands of the company store
And they’ll bring the army in on us when the union gets too close to them
BURN IT DOWN BOYS!
BURN IT DOWN BOYS!
BURN IT DOWN I SAID, TO THE HEAD!
They’ll shoot us down like our fathers but like them we’re already dead and down.
Our anger built and tightly wound
We walked the coal road through the town
“The store,” I yelled, “We’ll burn it down, Burn it to a cynder!”
As I spoke these words before my eyes
Their doors and windows opened wide
And 10 more miners joined my side
Beaten, starved and angered
We were beaten, starved and angered
Half the town’ll die from the mining of the coal
The other half’ll leave when the mine decides to close
The people who are left will starve to death at the hands of the company store
And they’ll bring the army in on us when the union
gets to close to them
BURN IT DOWN BOYS!
BURN IT DOWN BOYS!
BURN IT DOWN I SAID, TO THE HEAD!
They’ll shoot us down like our mothers but like them we’re already dead and down.
I slammed the door at quarter to four
I was headed for the company store
“I’ll watch my children starve no more
Tonight I’m going to feed them”
“I haven’t worked in 40 days
For 23 I’ve had no pay
In a week I’ll have no place to stay
In an hour they’ll have to kill me”
Half the town’ll die from the mining of the coal
The other half’ll leave when the mine decides to close
The people who are left will starve to death at the hands of the company store
And they’ll bring the army in on us when the union gets to close to them
BURN IT DOWN BOYS!
BURN IT DOWN BOYS!
BURN IT DOWN I SAID, TO THE HEAD!
They’ll shoot us down like our fathers but like them we’re already dead and down.
