GHOST MINERS IN THE SKY
As recorded by Owen Money & Lloyd Davies on "The Valley Boys of Wales" (2009)

I was drinking up in Merthyr at a place called Downers....
I stopped for fish and whistles at the chippie by the Coop [pronounced "cwop"]
There was thunder in the valley; there was lightning in the sky.
I stood in in the bus shelter just to keep my Woodbine dry.

Then all at once a distant sound not easy to define.
It sounded like ten thousand men were marching all in line,
And then the clouds they parted and I heard the mournful cry.
A host of ghostly miners were marching through the sky.

Yippee-I-A, yippee-I-O,
There were ghost miners in the sky.

Their hobnail boots were dirty and their picks were shining bright.
The lads ... dark and stormy night.
They had cold and stern red(?) faces; they had sweat upon their lips.
I must have gotten frightened; I dropped my bag of chips.

One of them looked straight at me and said: "Now, young man, think.
You spend your time on foolish things like gambling and drink.
Young man, change your ways today, for this I've come to tell:
You'll stoke the devil's boilers from the coal seam down in Hell."

Yippee-I-A, yippee-I-O,
Ghost miners in the sky.

Ever since that fateful night my life was turned around.
No longer in the pubs and clubs and betting shops I'm found.
So listen to my story, 'cause it'll make you think.
Keep off the marijuana and don't touch the dreaded drink.

Yippee-I-A, yippee-I-O
Ghost miners in the sky. [REPEAT AND FADE.]