My grandfather was a coalminer, but was crippled in an accident when he saved a fellow miner’s life by holding off a coal wagon that would have otherwise crushed him to death. My grandmother worked her fingers to the bone on nightshifts in a factory, raised seven kids, lived well into her 90s. My Dad avoided the subterranean life, and our family grew up by the sea in a tiny fishing village. This is a kind of family memoir…
I was born with coal dust in my veins, but seaspray on my skin
I don’t know if I can shake it, I don’t know where to begin
Coal dust was feeding them, putting money in their hands
But from my skin that sea spray, washed salt into the sand
He fuelled this land, from down below, where a man could never weep
I know that he could take it, for the family he’d keep
But ageless rock would crush him Put his heart within her hand
Yet from my skin that sea spray washed salt into the sand
It broke her heart, to see him fade and give up on all hope
In the dark, where wagons rolled on ancient, dusty slopes
So now with children at her feet but the strength to carry on
She worked her fingers to the bone until all her work was done
Though light of day would blind her Tear her heart out of his hand
Still from my skin that sea spray washes salt into the sand
The timeless things they taught me roll down life’s dusty slope
In the dark, where wagons lie you never give up hope
No ageless rock could crush us Pull our heart out of this land
And from my skin that sea spray washing salt into the sand
And from my skin that sea spray washes salt into the sand
Words & Music by DB
Acoustic guitar and vocals DB
Written, recorded and mixed 22nd December 2013
by DB at the ScienceBASS “Studios” too many miles from the coast