THE GANDY DANCER

Copyright 2001 by Grant Carrington

. E . . . . . . . . . . . . Am . . . . . . . . . . . . . D . . . . . . . . . . . . . G
You ride in comfort in your coach from New York to the West.
. E . . . . . . . . . . . . . Am . . . .. . . . . . . . . D . . . . . . . . . . . G
You see us standing by the tracks as you button up your vest.
C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . E . . . . . . . . . . . . C . . . . . . . . . . . E
We're tired and we're hungry but we've got six hours to go,
C . . . . . . . . . . . . . G . . . . . . . F . . . . . . . . . . . . D
Of laying track and roadbed before our day is through.

. . . . . . . G . . . . . . . . . C . . . . . . . . G . . . . . . . . . C
But we'll dance on the rails and we'll dance on the ties.
. . . . . . G . . . . . . . . . . C . . . . . . . . . . D
We'll sing beside the roadbed as we watch the trains roll by.
. . . . G . . . . . . C . . . . . . . G . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C
We'll doff our caps to the passengers then we'll spit into our hands,
. G . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C . . . . . . . . . . . D7 . . . . . . . . . . G
Pick up our picks and shovels, and we'll help to build this land.

You call us gandy dancers and many other names,
And when the track's not laid in time, we're the ones you blame.
The straw boss says the man on top is gonna dock our pay
If we don't get at least three miles of new track laid today.

CHO:

Your lady rides beside you while ours stay home to pray.
We send them money when we can, what we don't drink from our pay.
There's diamond rings upon your hands; they sure don't look like ours:
Missing fingers, broken bones, our bodies filled with scars.

CHO:

The gandy dancer's gone, my friend, into the mists of time.
We'll sing to him, we'll toast to him, in poetry and rhyme.
And when you face the final judge and he's waiting for your answer,
You'll be fortunate if you can say,

"My lord, I did about half as much as a gandy dancer."

CHO:


Feel free to perform this song in public, as long as you mention who wrote it. (A mention of the CD, Songs Without Wisdom, and the fact that it can purchased from www.cdbaby.com/carrington would be appreciated too.) If you want to record it, however, you will have to cross my palm with silver. My brother-in-law comes from Sicily.