EASINGTON

We prayed for a new day dawning
On a village shrouded in grey
Where people spent their dole lives
Waiting day by day
Waiting oh so patiently
For good luck to come along
But that was just like finding gold
On the streets of Easington

Little bairns with mucky faces
Playing in the colliery streets
Remind us of our childhood years
So innocent, so sweet
Full of joy and happiness
Before the pain ahead
Before our hopes were shattered
Before our dreams lay dead

But let us not hang our sorrows
On the gates of misery
We'll get the bairns up laughing
And we'll sing
We'll show there is joy in Easington

From the outer villages
To the beaches coaly black
Shadow-folk by dusk and dawn
Stoop to fill a sack
For what had been their livelihood
Came to lay their land to waste
But there were no inner cities rising
By this slag-strewn the coast

But let us not drown our sorrows
On the dregs of misery
We'll get the lasses drinking
And we'll sing
We'll show there is joy in Easington

From the broken windows
Of the houses in the night
You can see the pit-head pulley wheel
Silhouetted by moonlight
Now the land is rolling green
Its coal town days are done
The tide has turned, the tide runs clean
Beneath a brand new sun

But let us not dwell on sorrow
Nor think of misery
We'll get the old folks dancing
And we'll sing
We'll show there is joy in Easington

(Gary Miller)

Copyright © 1992 Gary Miller / Whippet Records