Doscomocracy

LYRICS

My back is bent from a lifetime spent
In the dirt and steam and snow
In the General Yard, where the work is hard
And the wages mean and low.

My hands are swelled from the spades I’ve held
In the depths of a dirty ditch
And my shoulders sprung from the picks I’ve swung
In the toils of the idle rich.

My eyes are dimmed from the years spent in
The glare of die Open Hearth
And my lungs are shot from gasses caught
In DOSCO’S¹ hell on earth.

My heart is strained and my legs are sprained
And a din roars in my ears
From toiling in moulds and greasy holes
That has shortened my life by years.

And many a time I came out to find
That I’d only come out on spec.
When jobs were few and old Bruno’s crew
Were all old Peter checked.

For times get hard in the General Yard
When steel goes in a slump
And Saunders friends are thankful then
For the checkers and the dump.

While my hair has greyed I’ve begged and prayed
For a job I might enjoy
But I leaned on luck while the plumbs were plucked
By the bosses’ fair haired boy.

Then the war came on and my boy has gone
And his mother’s heart must fret
Who pays the tax on the gun he packs
While they’re working his Dad to death.

Now my health is ruined and I’ll soon be doomed
To a cold dark debtors grave
Is a few cents raise in my last few days
Too much for a lifetime slave?

Bruno was an Italian cement worker brought in during the 1923 strike; Peter McLachlan was a general foreman in the General Yard. Saunders was a superintendent in the General Yard. (MacGillivray).

By Alicia Penny

About Alicia Penny

With a voice that routinely makes people shut up and listen, lyrics that paint vivid murals inside your head and a mastery of anything with strings, Alicia Penney has been kind enough to grace the stages of Cape Breton time and time again. Whether it be with a punk rock trio (Static in Action), a folk-rock sextet (Tamarack), or rockin’ acoustic solo, Alicia Penney shines through.

You can hear Alica’s musical gifts on her 2005 solo debut “Right Out of Er’”, three Yellow EPs, Static in Action’s self-titled double disc, and her former band, The Tom Fun Orchestra’s “You Will Land With a Thud”. She also makes guest appearances on Great Plains’ “Home of the New Totem”, as well as Ricochet’s “Daze Away”, Black Tooth Grinn’s self-titled acoustic album, and the upcoming release by Seek Out Ships. Alicia is routinely called upon to add her unique voice to the mix whether it be for a recording or a guest appearance live on stage with her friends.

Penney has been an important part of the Cape Breton independent music scene for over 10 years, and in her various acts she has played in every province in Canada as well as toured overseas. Alicia is currently working on new songs with her various bands, with plans to record another full length solo album at some hazy, uncertain point in the future.

www.aliciapenney.com