Barbara Dickson

Ballad Of Springhill(Chords)

Barbara Dickson

Key: Dm

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           Dm       C               Dm      C 
In the town of Springhill, Nova Scotia 
Dm                                   G                 Dm 
Down in the dark of The Cumberland Mine 
             Dm7             G                 C          Am 
There's blood on the coal and the miners lie 
           Dm          C              Dm       C 
In the roads that never saw sun nor sky 
Dm             C              Dm       A 
Roads that never saw sun nor sky 
          Dm        C                      Dm            C 
In the town of Springhill, you don't sleep easy 
Dm                           G                Dm 
Often the earth will tremble and roll 
                 Dm      G           C          A7 
When the earth is restless, miners die 
Dm          C                 Dm        C    
Bone and blood is the price of coal 
            Dm      C               Dm    C 
In the town of Springhill, Nova Scotia, 
Dm                        G      Dm 
Late in the year of fifty-eight 
Dm          G                   C            A7 
Day still comes and the sun still shines 
             Dm            C                 Dm               C 
But it's dark as the grave in the Cumberland Mine 
             Dm            C                 Dm               C 
But it's dark as the grave in the Cumberland Mine 
Dm               C              Dm     C 
Down at the coal face, miners working 
Dm                                    G         Dm 
Rattle of the belt, and the cutter's blade 
Dm            G                  C                A7 
Rumble of rock and the walls close round 
        Dm                 C             Dm           C 
The living and the dead men two miles down 
Dm               C           Dm                   C 
Twelve men lay two miles from the pitshaft 
Dm                               G            Dm 
Twelve men lay in the dark and sang 
Dm           C            G          A7  
Long hot days in a miner's tomb 
           Dm          C              Dm         C 
It was three feet high and a hundred long 
           Dm          C              Dm         C 
It was three feet high and a hundred long 
Dm              C                    Dm              C 
Three days passed and the lamps gave out 
        Dm     G             Dm 
And Caleb Rushton, he up and said 
                    Dm           C                   A7 
'There's no more water nor light nor bread 
Dm          C                 Dm        C    
So we'll live on hope and songs instead' 
        Dm                 C             Dm           C 
Listen for the shouts of the bareface miners 
        Dm     G             Dm 
Listen through the rubble for a rescue team 
          Dm           C                   A7 
Six hundred feet of coal and a slag 
Dm          C                 Dm        C    
Hope imprisoned in a three foot seam 
            Dm      C               Dm    C 
Eight days passed and some were rescued 
        Dm     G             Dm 
Leaving the dead to die alone 
          Dm           C                   A7 
Through all their lives they dug a grave 
Dm          C                 Dm        C    
Two miles of earth for a marking stone
	        

Written by Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger

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