Words & Music: Phil Dane
This song was inspired by a TV documentary about coal miner’s families during the strikes in Britain in the early 1980s. I set the song around the Bradford coal pit in Manchester near where I was born and where my great uncle Jack worked and is a conversation between a miner and his wife and is about the unity of mining communities and the strength of mining women. I am thrilled that this song has found a place in the folk-heritage of the North of England, particularly in the North East. This song won the Saltburn Folk Festival Songwriting Competition in 2008.
Lyrics
Words & Music: Phil Drane
There’s resolution in your eyes, Jackie
And a purpose in your step, I see
Your mind’s made up, and never once we’ve talked
So, now, just you listen to me
Don't cross over the line Jackie, don't go through the gates,
For them pickets down the mine, oh Jackie, they're your life-long mates.
Don't cross over the line Jackie, all you've left is your pride,
And that's what makes you a man our Jackie, the man you are inside.
You're a union man, just like your Dad, your intentions they’re always good,
But we're working folk from Bradford lad, and the pit, well it's in our blood
And it's us and them, as it's always been, and they'd drive us into t’dust
Our unity is all we have, so stick together we must.
Well I’ve never wanted to break my word, or let me marrows down,
And I tell you now, I just dread the thought of walking through our town
But you and the kids you mean more to me than any of my mates
And to see you suffering day on day, it’s more than I can take.
No, don't cross over the line Jackie, don't go through the gates,
For them pickets down the mine, well Jackie, they're your life-long mates.
No don't cross over the line Jackie, All you've left is your pride,
And that's what makes you a man our Jackie, The man you are inside.
And I won't let you break your word, to the miners gathered there,
Betray their trust just for me and the kids, as if we just don’t care,
Sure, there’s nowt to eat, I know the larder's bare, and God knows we’re freezing cold,
But I'll won’t let them grind you down, they'll never take your soul.
So don't cross over the line Jackie, don't go through the gates,
For them pickets down the mine, oh Jackie, they're your life long mates
Don't cross over the line Jackie, go back, join the fight,
You can't always do what's best, Jackie, you can only do what's right.