Written by Peter Hicks and Geoff Francis.
There's a factory outside Redfern,
And it's nineteen forty-nine,
Where a young woman called Jeanie
Takes her place down on the line.
She is one of twenty-seven
Workers always pale and tired,
Who toil long hours six days a week
In a sweatshop shut inside.
But Jeanie has a vision,
The boss laughs in her face,
Of a better deal for women
And a workplace clean and safe.
She takes it to the union,
And it's them she has to fight
For justice for her work-mates,
Equal pay and equal rights.
Jeanie Paine's an unsung hero,
reaching to us from the past,
Survival was her struggle
and she learned to battle fast,
She's just one unsung hero,
in a landscape bleak and grey,
And the light of Jeanie Paine
it still shines through to us today.
Then there's Millie with two children
And another on the way,
They've never known their father
For the war took him away,
But you can't bring up two daughters
On just seven quid a week,
She needs the extra money
And the price of love is cheap.
And the holy priests condemn her
For her life of sin and shame,
They who sit in judgement say
The church cannot be blamed.
While they build their monuments to God
And they preach their heavenly dreams,
Its the likes of Mille Reilly
Who can show them what love means.
She's another unsung hero,
reaching to us from the past,
Survival was her struggle
and she learned to battle fast.
Yes, she's one more unsung hero,
in a landscape bleak and grey,
And the light of Millie Reilly
it shines through to us today.
And beside them, there stands Sally,
She can't afford to lose,
She's a dying mother to support
And the rent is overdue.
She don't care much for politics
But inside she knows what's right,
And Sally Pearson's not afraid
To stand outside and fight.
So you who would learn history
Put away your dreary books
Of kings and politicians,
Of assorted pimps and crooks.
Look instead at Sally Pearson,
Millie Reilly, Jeanie too,
And the folk who made Australia
Not the famous, wealthy few.
She's another unsung hero,
reaching to us from the past,
Survival was her struggle
and she learned to battle fast.
Yes, she's one more unsung hero,
in a landscape bleak and grey,
And the light of Sally Pearson
it shines through to us today.
Yes, there's a million unsung heros,
reaching to us from the past,
Survival was their struggle,
and they learned to battle fast.
There's a million unsung heroes,
in a landscape bleak and grey,
And the light of every one of them
shines through to us today.
And it's nineteen forty-nine,
Where a young woman called Jeanie
Takes her place down on the line.
She is one of twenty-seven
Workers always pale and tired,
Who toil long hours six days a week
In a sweatshop shut inside.
But Jeanie has a vision,
The boss laughs in her face,
Of a better deal for women
And a workplace clean and safe.
She takes it to the union,
And it's them she has to fight
For justice for her work-mates,
Equal pay and equal rights.
Jeanie Paine's an unsung hero,
reaching to us from the past,
Survival was her struggle
and she learned to battle fast,
She's just one unsung hero,
in a landscape bleak and grey,
And the light of Jeanie Paine
it still shines through to us today.
Then there's Millie with two children
And another on the way,
They've never known their father
For the war took him away,
But you can't bring up two daughters
On just seven quid a week,
She needs the extra money
And the price of love is cheap.
And the holy priests condemn her
For her life of sin and shame,
They who sit in judgement say
The church cannot be blamed.
While they build their monuments to God
And they preach their heavenly dreams,
Its the likes of Mille Reilly
Who can show them what love means.
She's another unsung hero,
reaching to us from the past,
Survival was her struggle
and she learned to battle fast.
Yes, she's one more unsung hero,
in a landscape bleak and grey,
And the light of Millie Reilly
it shines through to us today.
And beside them, there stands Sally,
She can't afford to lose,
She's a dying mother to support
And the rent is overdue.
She don't care much for politics
But inside she knows what's right,
And Sally Pearson's not afraid
To stand outside and fight.
So you who would learn history
Put away your dreary books
Of kings and politicians,
Of assorted pimps and crooks.
Look instead at Sally Pearson,
Millie Reilly, Jeanie too,
And the folk who made Australia
Not the famous, wealthy few.
She's another unsung hero,
reaching to us from the past,
Survival was her struggle
and she learned to battle fast.
Yes, she's one more unsung hero,
in a landscape bleak and grey,
And the light of Sally Pearson
it shines through to us today.
Yes, there's a million unsung heros,
reaching to us from the past,
Survival was their struggle,
and they learned to battle fast.
There's a million unsung heroes,
in a landscape bleak and grey,
And the light of every one of them
shines through to us today.
Contributed by Marcia - 2008/6/25 - 16:21
×
![]()
Note for non-Italian users: Sorry, though the interface of this website is translated into English, most commentaries and biographies are in Italian and/or in other languages like French, German, Spanish, Russian etc.
