Springhill Mine Disaster

In the town of Springhill Nova Scotia

Deep in the heart of the Cumberland Mine

There's blood on the coal and the miners lie

In roads that never saw sun nor sky

Roads that never saw sun nor sky



In the town of Springhill you don't sleep easy

Often the earth would tremble and roll

When the earth is restless miners die

Bone and blood is the price of coal

Bone and blood is the price of coal



In the town of Springhill Nova Scotia

Late in the year of 58

The day still comes and the sun still shines

But it's dark as the grave in the Cumberland Mine

Dark as the grave in the Cumberland Mine



Down at the coal face miners working

Rattle of the belts and the cutter blades

Then a rumble of rock and the walls close round

Living and the dead men two miles down

Living and the dead men two miles down



Twelve men lay two miles from the pitshaft

Twelve men lay in the dark and sang

Long hot days in the miner's tomb

It was three foot wide by a hundred long

Three foot wide by a hundred long



Three days passed and the lights gave out

When the leading man got up and said

There's no more water nor light nor bread

So we'll live on songs of hope instead

Live on songs of hope instead



Listen for the shouts of the bareface miners

Listen through the rubble for the rescue team

Six hundred feet of coal and slag

Hope imprisoned in a three-foot seam

Hope imprisoned in a three-foot seam



Eight days passed and some were rescued

Leaving the rest to die alone

Through all their lives they dug a grave

Two miles of earth for a marking stone

Two miles of earth for a marking stone