Cover art for The Bells of Rhymney by Pete Seeger

The Bells of Rhymney

Pete Seeger
Track 14 on Headlines & Footnotes: A Collection of Topical Songs 
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The Bells of Rhymney Lyrics

Oh what will you give me?
Say the sad bells of Rhymney
Is there hope for the future?
Cry the brown bells of Merthyr
Who made the mine owner?
Say the black bells of Rhondda
And who robbed the miner?
Cry the grim bells of Blaina

They will plunder will-nilly
Cry the bells of Caerphilly
They have fangs, they have teeth
Shout the loud bells of Neath
Even God is uneasy
Say the moist bells of Swansea
And what will you give me?
Say the sad bells of Rhymney

Throw the vandals in court
Say the bells of Newport
All will be well if, if, if
Cry the green bells of Cardiff
Why so worried, sisters why?
Sang the silver bells of Wye
And what will you give me?
Say the sad bells of Rhymney

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Genius Annotation

Originally a poem by Welsh poet Idris Davis, the tune was added by Seeger. The poem satirizes political turmoil regarding failure to protect mine labourers in the wake of rampant exploitation and dangerous work conditions in Davis’s time by making each argument come from the bells of a different city cathedral in his home country of Wales.

Q&A

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Who wrote “The Bells of Rhymney” by Pete Seeger?
Headlines & Footnotes: A Collection of Topical Songs (1999)
  1. 1.
    Peg and Awl
  2. 2.
    The Titanic (When That Great Ship Went Down)
  3. 3.
    The Sinking of the Reuben James
  4. 4.
    Listen Mr. Bilbo
  5. 5.
    Hold the Line
  6. 6.
    Passing Through
  7. 7.
    Coal Creek March
  8. 8.
    I Come and Stand at Every Door
  9. 9.
    Time’s A-Getting Hard
  10. 10.
    Little Boxes
  11. 11.
    From Way Up Here
  12. 12.
    The Battle of Maxton Field
  13. 13.
    Get Up and Go
  14. 14.
    The Bells of Rhymney
  15. 15.
    Waist Deep in the Big Muddy
  16. 16.
    Guantanamera
  17. 17.
    There Once Was a Woman Who Swallowed a Lie
  18. 18.
    Wasn’t That a Time
  19. 19.
    Viva la Quince Brigada
  20. 20.
    Wimoweh
  21. 21.
    English Is Cuh-ray-zee
  22. 22.
    Odds on Favorite
  23. 23.
    A Little of This and That
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