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The Drivers’ Song

from Freeborn Man by Ewan MacColl & Peggy Seeger

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about

The army of pick-and-shovel slingers who built the railway and canal systems in the 19th-century were known as navigators, or navvies. They are still to be found in almost every branch of civil engineering, though for the most part the hand tools have given way to the bulldozer and the giant Euclids and RBs (Ruston Bucyrus). This song is a tribute to Jack Hamilton, a ’dozer’ driver from County Clare, Eire, who told us: ‘Some people say to me, “You’re a very small man to be driving such a big machine”. But you don’t have to be a big man to drive these at all. As small a man as you could drive these things! It’s only once you get used to the scraper and the dozer blade and the winch and these levers here ...’ [there was a forest of levers!] ‘Anyone could drive this ... even a lady...’

words and music: Ewan MacColl

lyrics

Come all you gallant drivers, wherever you may be,
Whether you drive a Euclid or a 54-RB;
Keep your hand upon the levers, cut and fill a steady load,
And take it nice and steady, boys, a-digging up the road.

We’ve built a hundred airfields, in the snow and wind and rain,
Built atomic power stations, more dams than I can name;
We’ve ploughed through rock and swampland, moved mountains by the load,
Now we’re going nice and steady, boys, a-digging up the road.

When your digging days are over and you’ve loaded your last ton,
When your cat is broken up for scrap and your RB-10 won’t run;
When you’ve had your last stamp on your cards and reached your last abode,
For a long time after there’ll be people travelling on your road.

credits

from Freeborn Man, released September 20, 1983
Ewan MacColl - vocals
Peggy Seeger - banjo

Produced by Neill MacColl
Engineered by Nick Godwin
Recorded at Pathway Studios, London

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all rights reserved

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Ewan MacColl London, UK

This site is maintained by the MacColl family, aiming to make Ewan's catalogue available to download.
Ewan MacColl is known to most as a songwriter and singer, but he was also of significant influence in the worlds of theatre and radio broadcasting. His art reached huge numbers through the folk clubs, greater numbers through his recordings and untold millions through the radio. ... more

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