Many thanks to all for your assistance. I was unaware of 'Taku Miners' - thanks Masato and Nutty.

Listening again more carefully to the Cowboy Junkies, Margo Timmins could well be singing 'Oil bottles on our shoulders' - dragging out the sound of the word 'oil' so that it sounds like 'pour your'. I was put off by the fact that a number of sites have 'pour your' in the transcription and did not bother to listen carefully with headphones. This could mean that someone made an inaccurate transcription and others followed suit. On the other hand, she is definitely not singing the 'to and fro' which is in the 'Taku Miners' but makes little sense to me. 'Slough', suggested by Allan and supported by Spaw, could well be a goer as a metaphor for extracting the ore from the other material. However, I share Amos' bewilderment as to why they would need all that oil, albeit it is clearly the line in 'Taku Miners' collected from a miner.

Thanks again. I appreciate your assistance.

--Stewie.