Eco-communities as a social vision

Eco-communities as a social vision
Egalitarian and ecological communities, like the pictured East Wind (www.eastwind.org), are very close to our vision of an ecological society

14 October, 2008

"Coal Tattoo" by The Kingston Trio, Album: Time To Think (1963)


Travelin' down that coal-town road,
Listenin' to my rubber tires whine.
Goodbye to Buckeye and white Sycamore;
I'm leavin' you behind.

I've been coal miner all of my life—
Layin' down track in the hole.
Gotta back like an ironwood, bit by the wind;
Blood veins blue as the coal.

Somebody said, "That's a strange tattoo
You have on the side of your head."
I said, "That's the blueprint left by the coal.
A little more and I'd been dead."

Well, I love the rumble and I love the dark.
I love the cool of the slade,
And it's on down the new road, lookin' for a job.
This travelin' nook in my head.

I stood for the union and walked in the line
And fought against the company.
I stood for the U. M. W. of A.
Now, who's gonna stand for me?

I've got no house and I got no job,
Just got a worried soul;
And a blue tattoo on the side of my head
Left by the number nine coal.

Some day when I'm dead and gone to heaven,
The land of my dreams;
I won't have to worry on losin' my job,
On bad times and big machines.

I ain't gonna pay
My money away
On dues or hospital plans.
I'm gonna pick coal
Where the blue heavens roll
And sing with the angel band . . .


A song about the impacts of working as a coal miner. Coal tattoo is a metaphor for occupational diseases, common in coal miners, some of them are chronic or lead to premature death.

You can hear a cover of this song by Kathy Mattea in youtube

You can hear some songs by The Kingston Trio in myspace

1 comment:

muebles madrid said...

It won't have effect in actual fact, that's what I suppose.