All proceeds from the sale of this track will go to the Aberfan Memorial Charity. 2016 is the 50th Anniversary of the disaster.
lyrics
He didn't want to go to school today,
I knew that he would rather stay and play.
But there are many lessons he must learn,
And there is only one more day of term.
Reluctantly, my boy went through the door,
And stumbled up the hill to school once more.
A little late but class had just begun,
Oh I wish I hadn't sent my only son.
Chorus
Oh my valley, what have they done?
Oh my cariad, the final hour has come.
Oh my little children, suffer unto me.
Oh my tears they flow free.
My tears they will ever flow free.
This valley green has long been slave to coal,
And danger deep is always down below.
Shaft and seam was where they died until:
Now the devil waits upon the hill.
For tips have slipped a little it is true,
But a tip upon a spring is something new.
The blackened hearted monster didn't care,
There was nothing in its path that it would spare.
Chorus
(Extended Version only)
All the men came up from underground,
And found the mothers clawing at the ground.
Silent was the scene that met their eyes,
Not a sound, not a children's cry.
Even nature seemed to hold its breath,
No bird song in a valley filled with death.
With bleeding hands and bleeding hearts they prayed,
That some beneath the mud they yet could save.
Chorus & Counter melody:
Glyn cysgod angau, glyn cysgod du.
Translation of Welsh: The valley of the shadow of death/darkness
The chapel where we once sang hymns of joy,
Houses tiny bundles, girls and boys.
The line of parents wait and watch and learn,
We knew then that our boy would not return.
Gently they were placed beneath the earth,
All because this was their place of birth.
The warnings of the workers met deaf ears,
And now the valley fills up with our tears.
Chorus
He didn't want to go to school that day,
And how I wish I'd kept him home to play.
But 50 years have passed and I am old,
And still this story's seldom one I've told.
credits
from Remembering Aberfan,
released September 30, 2016
Words and Music by Amy Goddard
Guitar and Vocals by Amy Goddard
Backing Vocals by Andy Adams, Naomi Hitchings, Jonathan Gulliford, Alan Whitby, Matt Goddard, Brian Kutscher
Produced by Brian Kutscher and Amy Goddard
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