As far as I can see the full lyrics for Thom Parrott's song about Aberfan are not in the database. Verse 6 below is the sung by Danish group Paddy Doyles on "Aberfan" (SONET SLP 1719); the rest is from Thom Parrott's own recording, which can be heard on his album "Neon Princess" (1968; reissued 2004) and on the various-artists album "The Best of Broadside 1962-1988."

The Aberfan Coal Tip Tragedy
(Thom Parrott)

1. The mining men of Wales are hardy, strong and bold,
And they tunnel in the earth and make it yield its coal,
But in the town of Aberfan, it's dearer now than gold,
For one generation for profit has been sold.

CHORUS: How many died in Aberfan
When the coal tip came tumbling down?
How many children will never grow old
And how many lives purchased how many tons of coal?

2. The little school of Pantglas lay where the mountain loomed,
And some two hundred children took their lessons in its rooms.
The day fall recess was to begin, they went to meet their doom
Not knowing the green hollow would soon become their tomb. CHORUS

3. 'Twas just nine A.M. when they opened up the door,
And in came the children, two hundred, maybe more,
But nobody knew then what the mountain had in store.
The lucky ones were tardy; the others are no more. CHORUS

4. "I played with my big dog. I played with my cat,"
Signed "Paul, October 21;" there's nothing after that,
For the whole mountain came down; everyone was trapped,
And now there's only coal slag where little Paul once sat. CHORUS

5. In eighteen hundred and seventy-four, the first pit shaft went down,
And they started piling mining waste on the slopes above the town,
And everybody knew that the practice was unsound,
But for ninety-two years no better place was found. CHORUS

6. The National Coal Board said they'd known from the first
That the coal tips they'd permitted were a worry and a curse.
But I've heard that speech so many times, and it always sounds rehearsed.
If the coal tip was a murderer, the Coal Board's crime was worse. CHORUS

7. The children all were pretty, the children all were fine
The children went to school in the shadow of the mine
But with the slag heap up above them, they were running out of time
And they were buried alive by the Ministry of Mines. CHORUS


Best wishes,
Bente