Every morning at half-past four,
You hear the cooks hop on the floor.
It’s hard times in the mill, my love,
Hard times in the mill.
Every morning just at five,
You gotta get up, dead or alive.
It’s hard times in the mill, my love,
Hard times in the mill.
Every morning at six o’clock,
Two cold biscuits, hard as a rock.
It’s hard times in the mill, my love,
Hard times in the mill.
Every morning at half-past nine,
The bosses are cussin’ and the spinners are cryin’.
It’s hard times in the mill, my love,
Hard times in the mill.
They docked me a nickel; they docked me a dime;
They sent me to the office to get my time.
It’s hard times in the mill, my love,
Hard times in the mill.
Cotton mill boys don’t make enough
To buy them tobacco and a box of snuff.
It’s hard times in the mill, my love,
Hard times in the mill.
Every night when I get home,
A piece of corn bread and an old jawbone.
It’s hard times in the mill, my love,
Hard times in the mill.
Ain’t it enough to break your heart?
Hafta work all day and at night it’s dark.
It’s hard times in the mill, my love,
Hard times in the mill.
You hear the cooks hop on the floor.
It’s hard times in the mill, my love,
Hard times in the mill.
Every morning just at five,
You gotta get up, dead or alive.
It’s hard times in the mill, my love,
Hard times in the mill.
Every morning at six o’clock,
Two cold biscuits, hard as a rock.
It’s hard times in the mill, my love,
Hard times in the mill.
Every morning at half-past nine,
The bosses are cussin’ and the spinners are cryin’.
It’s hard times in the mill, my love,
Hard times in the mill.
They docked me a nickel; they docked me a dime;
They sent me to the office to get my time.
It’s hard times in the mill, my love,
Hard times in the mill.
Cotton mill boys don’t make enough
To buy them tobacco and a box of snuff.
It’s hard times in the mill, my love,
Hard times in the mill.
Every night when I get home,
A piece of corn bread and an old jawbone.
It’s hard times in the mill, my love,
Hard times in the mill.
Ain’t it enough to break your heart?
Hafta work all day and at night it’s dark.
It’s hard times in the mill, my love,
Hard times in the mill.
Contributed by Bernart Bartleby - 2015/4/17 - 08:49
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Canzone composta dai lavoratori della Columbia Duck Mill, Columbia, South Carolina, sull’aria della tradizionale “Hard Times in Cryderville Jail”
Testo trovato su Political Folk Music Dot Org
Il brano era ancora ben ricordato e cantato dagli operai tessili negli anni 40.
La canzone fa parte del repertorio di Pete Seeger (in “American Industrial Ballads”, Folkways Records 1956) e Joe Glazer (in “Sings Labor Songs”, Collector Records, 1971).
Si veda anche Hard Times in a Cotton Mill (Cotton Mill Blues)