Worksong
from The Common Land by Kevin Adams
-
Streaming + DownloadIncludes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.Purchasable with gift card
£1 GBP or more
-
Buy the Full Digital Album
-
Compact Disc (CD) + Digital AlbumThirteen of my own songs: seven written for various Living Archive theatre and radio productions, three for the Maids Moreton's Millennium Pageant, and three strays which wandered in.
Released in 2002.
Includes unlimited streaming of The Common Land via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.ships out within 5 days5 remainingPurchasable with gift card£10 GBP or more
about
Wolverton Railway Works, on the edge of modern Milton Keynes, used to regard itself as the premier railway works. If Swindon, Derby couldn't do the job, send it to Wolverton. However, 'nothing stays the same'.
lyrics
Worksong
words & music: Kevin Adams
You were there to work, you didn't dare stop
The foreman's office overlooked the shop
In his bowler hat and his starched collar shirt
You never saw the foreman with his hands in the dirt
And up at the top of the Golden Stair
The Superintendent in his stuffed leather chair
Just look busy if he ever walked through
You didn't bother him and he never saw you
But nothing stays the same-
Now management skills is the name of the game
And it's hands-on this, and first names that
And goodbye to the foreman's bowler hat.
The charge hand hammers out the piecework rates
Does his best for his family, his best for his mates
We could build anything in metal or wood
But we cost too much for our own damn good.
See that finish in the Royal Train?
You won't see anything as good as that again
Now the very same skills of the very same man
Are patching up panels on an old brake van
Nothing stays the same
Measured time is the name of the game
And the time study man puts his watch on me
And piecework rates are history
‘You've a job for life,’ said your old man
But he didn't reckon with the Beeching plan.
Now we don't build new, we just repair-
You start to think you could work elsewhere.
Twenty years later it's the same again
At the stroke of the minister's fountain pen,
Market forces, political fads -
Kicked out on the dole one thousand lads.
Nothing stays the same-
Economic theory, the name of the game
And it's streamline this and lose more fat
And it’s jobs for the boys for the bureaucrat.
Nothing stays the same
Privatisation, the name of the game
But it’s still true as it was back then
The strength of the works is the skill of the men.
The strength of the works is the skill of the men.
The heart of the works is the skill of the men.
words & music: Kevin Adams
You were there to work, you didn't dare stop
The foreman's office overlooked the shop
In his bowler hat and his starched collar shirt
You never saw the foreman with his hands in the dirt
And up at the top of the Golden Stair
The Superintendent in his stuffed leather chair
Just look busy if he ever walked through
You didn't bother him and he never saw you
But nothing stays the same-
Now management skills is the name of the game
And it's hands-on this, and first names that
And goodbye to the foreman's bowler hat.
The charge hand hammers out the piecework rates
Does his best for his family, his best for his mates
We could build anything in metal or wood
But we cost too much for our own damn good.
See that finish in the Royal Train?
You won't see anything as good as that again
Now the very same skills of the very same man
Are patching up panels on an old brake van
Nothing stays the same
Measured time is the name of the game
And the time study man puts his watch on me
And piecework rates are history
‘You've a job for life,’ said your old man
But he didn't reckon with the Beeching plan.
Now we don't build new, we just repair-
You start to think you could work elsewhere.
Twenty years later it's the same again
At the stroke of the minister's fountain pen,
Market forces, political fads -
Kicked out on the dole one thousand lads.
Nothing stays the same-
Economic theory, the name of the game
And it's streamline this and lose more fat
And it’s jobs for the boys for the bureaucrat.
Nothing stays the same
Privatisation, the name of the game
But it’s still true as it was back then
The strength of the works is the skill of the men.
The strength of the works is the skill of the men.
The heart of the works is the skill of the men.
credits
from The Common Land,
released June 23, 2002
Words & music: Kevin Adams
Words & music: Kevin Adams
license
all rights reserved
tags
about
Kevin Adams Milton Keynes, UK
Blending traditional folk music with a love of other genres- classical, jazz, folk-rock, prog-rock, pop… music, music, music…
discography
-
Jun 2020 -
Jul 2018 -
Sep 2015 -
Jan 2019 -
Jun 2006 -
Jun 2017 -
Dec 2016 -
Jun 2002
contact / help
Kevin Adams recommends:
-
My collaborator Dave Makins - check him out.
go to album -
The Horse and the Tractor- a Radio Ballad
by The Living Archive BandFascinating social history plus great new songs from The Living Archive Band. Of which, coincidentally, I was a member.
go to album -
I Claim My Five Pounds
by StömpOK, I played in Stömp too. Bang to rights. But this is great country dance music with a rock rhythm section. Some gorgeous songs, too.
go to album
If you like Kevin Adams, you may also like:
-
Wealth of Sorrow
by Cahalen MorrisonBright and skipping songs that foreground the sound of the banjo and fingerstyle guitar in music that feels timeless.
go to album -
Sweet Old Religion
by Pharis & Jason RomeroSweet harmonies & strummed melodies; the duo delve into decades-old folk, jazz, and country to find a timeless kind of love and connection.
go to album -
I Need to Start a Garden
by Haley Heynderickxfeatured on Bandcamp Radio Apr 10, 2018
go to album
