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Song of the Lower Classes

from The Ox and the Ax by Cath and Phil Tyler

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    Ferric Mordant (2018)

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about

Words by Ernest Jones

lyrics

We plow and sow, we’re so very, very low,
  That we delve in the dirty clay;
Till we bless the plain with the golden grain,
  And the field with the fragrant hay.
Our place we know, we’re so very, very low,
  ’Tis down at the landlord’s feet;
We’re not too low the grain to grow,
  But too low the bread to eat.
 
Down, down we go, we’re so very, very low,
  To the hell of the deep-sunk mines;
But we gather the proudest gems that glow,
  When the crown of the despot shines;
And when’er he lacks, upon our backs
  Fresh loads he deigns to lay;
We’re far too low to vote the tax,
  But not too low to pay.
 
We’re low, we’re low—we’re very, very low,—
  And yet from our fingers glide
The silken floss and the robes that glow
  Round the limbs of the sons of pride;
And what we get, and what we give,
  We know, and we know our share;
We’re not too low the cloth to weave,
  But too low the cloth to wear.
 
We’re low, we’re low, we’re very, very low,
  And yet when the trumpets ring,
The thrust of a poor man’s arm may go
  Through the heart of the proudest king.
We’re low, we’re low—mere scum, we know—
  We’re only the rank and the file;
We’re not too low to kill the foe,
  But too low to share the spoil.

credits

from The Ox and the Ax, released March 30, 2018

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about

Cath and Phil Tyler Newcastle, UK

Cath & Phil Tyler play Anglo-American folk music using guitar, banjo, voice and fiddle. Coming together musically through a shared love of traditional narrative song, full voiced sacred harp singing and sparse mountain banjo, they have performed on stages as diverse as the Royal Opera House in London and a dank tower in the old city walls of Newcastle. ... more

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