Daddy What Did You Do in the Strike (Ewan MacColl) It was in the year of '84 shit really hit the fan When 'Mac the Knife' MacGregor, Maggie Thatcher's hatchet-man Said, Another twenty pits will have to close to meet the plan And we'll dump another twenty thousand miners Daddy were you with the first of the first Did you tell the NCB to do its worst Or did you save your lily liver Sell the union down the river A scab, a blackleg, one forever cursed When Arthur Scargill heard the news he cried, This Yankee slob Is a gift from Cowboy Reagan and he's here to steal our jobs Do an axe-job on the union for the crummy Thatcher mob But we'll show him what it means to be a miner Daddy did you man the picket-line Did you fight to save the future of the mines Or did you take the wrong direction Did you squeal for police protection Did you let 'em see your india-rubber spine Well the Yorkshire lads came out on strike and said, It's evident The only way to stop MacGregor and the government Is to bring the lads out everywhere from Scotland down to Kent And we'll show 'em what it means to be a miner Daddy what did you do in the strike Did you stand there with your mates and join the fight Or did you show a yellow belly Spill your guts out on the telly Did you let the bosses fill you full of shite Some didn't heed the strike call for guts and brains they lack They're the colour of a primrose though their hearts and legs are black And their noses are all brown with being up the rear of Mac They're just a bunch of dirty blackleg miners Daddy did you march at the head Did you stand there on the picket-line unfed Or did you sell your mates to have a Fortnight on the Costa Brava Did you choose a two-week holiday instead Well the battle it is joined at last the forces they are massed On their side the press the telly all the weapons of their class Plus MacGregor and his blacklegs but we'll never let 'em pass The NUM's the weapon of the miners Daddy what did you do in the strike Did you scab and let your workmates wage the fight How the neighbours stood and booed us Said we had the stink of Judas Daddy what did you do in the strike SKW oct99
Thanks to Mudcat for the Digital Tradition!