歌词
Come gather 'round friends
过来吧，朋友们
我来和你们谈谈这个镇子的往事
And I'll tell you a tale
那时，红色的铁矿石从地上涌起
可人们却只能用纸板当窗户挡住寒气
Of when the red iron armpits ran plenty
老人们坐在长椅上
对你感叹镇子现在空如鬼寂
But the cardboard filled windows
在镇子北面
我的童年悄悄地成长
And old men on the benches
就在别人的养育下
从我记事起
Tell you now that the whole town is empty
妈妈就一直在生病
我被带给哥哥来抚育
In the north end of town
矿石从矿堆上滚落
就像岁月从门后溜去
My own children have grown
拖绳和铲子相互撞击
可直到有一天，我的哥哥
Well I was raised on the other
没能再回到家
就像多年前的爸爸
In the wee hours of youth
漫长的冬季也已过去
我在窗前却等不到哥哥的身影
My mother took sick
我的朋友们也开始对我疏离
后来，我离开了学校
And I was brought up by my brother
大约是在春季
嫁给了约翰·托马斯，一个矿井工人
The iron ore poured
年华又在逝去
这次它所留下的倒还不错
As the years passed the door
米缸总是充裕，不用担心
可三个孩子出生后
The drag lines an' the shovels they was a-humming
孩子们爸爸的工作却被削减
变成原来的一半，没有原因
Till one day my brother
之后不久，矿井就要开始关闭了
更多的人即将失业
Failed to come home
空气中的火焰都像是要冻结
这时一个人过来说
The same as my father before him
在一周内
十一号矿井就要关闭
Well a long winter's wait
因为他们很不满东边的情况
他们认为给工人的工资太高了
From the window I watched
他们还说这儿的矿没有开采价值
采矿要更便宜
My friends they couldn't have been kinder
在南方的村镇
那里的工人们劳而无获
And my schooling was cut
因此矿厂的大门上了锁
任由矿石在地下溃朽
As I quit in the spring
家里的酒味越发浓重
伴着悲伤、无声的歌曲
To marry John Thomas, a miner
时间变得粘稠，不肯离去
空耗时间，等着太阳落寂
Oh the years passed again
每天都这样在窗边呆望远处
他在一边自言自语
And the givin' was good
沉默的空气让人窒息
一天早上，我醒来
With the lunch bucket filled every season
发现枕边已经空荡如虚
从那以后我拉扯着三个孩子度日
What with three babies born
夏日过去
院子里变得冷寂
The work was cut down
街上的店铺也一个接一个倒闭
现在，我的孩子们就要走了
To a half a day's shift with no reason
他们已经长大
这里也已没有什么值得留忆
Then the shaft was soon shut
And more work was cut
And the fire in the air, it felt frozen
Till a man come to speak
And he said in one week
That number eleven was closin'
They complained, in the east
They are paying too high
They say that your ore ain't worth digging
That it's much cheaper down
In the South American towns
Where the miners work almost for nothing
So the mining gates locked
And the red iron rotted
And the room smelled heavy from drinking
And the sad, silent song
Made the hour twice as long
As I waited for the sun to go sinking
I lived by the window
As he talked to himself
This silence of tongues it was building
Then one morning's wake
The bed it was bare
And I was left alone with three children
The summer is gone
The ground's turning cold
The stores one by one they're a foldin'
My children will go
As soon as they grow
Well, there ain't nothing here now to hold them
专辑信息