Yonder stands the reckless motorman
Who says his age is twenty one
Standing by his mainline motor
Saying, "Folks, what have I done?!?
Is it true I’ve killed my brakeman?
Is it true that he is dying?
Oh, I tried to stop my motor
But I could not stop in time!
See the cars stacked up on him
See him raise his weary head
See his sister standing by him
Crying, Brother, are you dead?"
"Sister, sister, I am dying
Soon I’ll be on yonder shore
Soon I’ll have a home in heaven
There’ll be no braking anymore
Go and tell my youngest brother
Take these words to an end
To never start the day a-braking
For his life is sure to end
Go tell my father, who is weighman
What he weighs to weigh it fair
There’ll be no scales up in heaven
For that meeting in the air."
Who says his age is twenty one
Standing by his mainline motor
Saying, "Folks, what have I done?!?
Is it true I’ve killed my brakeman?
Is it true that he is dying?
Oh, I tried to stop my motor
But I could not stop in time!
See the cars stacked up on him
See him raise his weary head
See his sister standing by him
Crying, Brother, are you dead?"
"Sister, sister, I am dying
Soon I’ll be on yonder shore
Soon I’ll have a home in heaven
There’ll be no braking anymore
Go and tell my youngest brother
Take these words to an end
To never start the day a-braking
For his life is sure to end
Go tell my father, who is weighman
What he weighs to weigh it fair
There’ll be no scales up in heaven
For that meeting in the air."
Contributed by Bernart Bartleby - 2019/10/2 - 18:49
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Canzone di autore anonimo che la Carter Family incise negli anni 30 del secolo scorso.
Trovo il brano anche nel disco di Mike Seeger "Tipple, Loom & Rail", pubblicato dalla Folkways Records nel 1966.
Prima dell'avvento dei freni pneumatici (il freno continuo automatico fu brevettato da Westinghouse nel 1869), uno dei lavori più pericolosi che si potessero fare era quello del brakeman, il frenatore, che doveva azionare a mano il freno posto sul vagone finale, o su più vagoni, attraverso un meccanismo di trasmissione manovrabile solo stando in cima alla carrozza. E questo avveniva ovviamente con ogni tempo... La mortalità era altissima...