Lyr Req: Mill Towns (Del McCoury Band)

Subject: Lyr Req: Don't follow me down, boys
From: Marion
Date: 09 May 04 - 11:50 PM

Hi gang. I have a chorus stuck in my head that I'm trying to identify. It's simply:

Don't follow me down, boys,
Don't follow me down, boys,
Don't follow me down, boys,
Don't follow me down.

I have no idea of any other parts of the song, or what it's talking about.

Ring a bell? Thanks, Marion

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Don't follow me down, boys
From: GUEST,Bex McK
Date: 10 May 04 - 04:40 AM

You may be thinking of a song called "Mill Towns"-- The Del McCoury Band do it on their latest record, "It's Just the Night", though I can't remember who wrote it. If that is the right song, it's about life in a defunct coal/mill town-- quite a poignant song.

Subject: Lyr Add: MILL TOWNS (David Francey)
From: RichM
Date: 10 May 04 - 04:52 AM

It's from David Francey's second CD (The Far End of Summer)

The following lyrics are from his website
http://www.davidfrancey.com/

MILL TOWNS

After hearing Northern Ontario's Grievous Angels, I started thinking about the similarities between mining towns and mill towns such as Cornwall, Ontario, where I lived for a time as a boy.

I heard a voice call down from the lonesome north,
Singing songs of work and worth,
Hard edged stories from the hard rock towns;
And I can picture the Saturday nights,
Hear the tires squealing from the Main Street lights,
Hear the creaking of the cables on the cage as it's lowered down:
Hard luck stories from the streets of the mining towns.

CHORUS: Don't follow me in, boys.
Don't follow me in, boys.
Don't follow me in, boys.
Don't follow me down.

I was raised by the Seaway side,
Staring out at the river wide.
Rode my bike up the bridge, looked back at the paper mill.
Through the windows I'd try and see
What the future held for the likes of me;
And I can hear the shift-change siren still
In the Seaway City, by the stacks of the paper mill. CHORUS

And the towns that rose with the mines and mills
Watch the future pass like they're standing still;
And the kids all leave, like the light when the sun goes down.
When you go back now and you walk the streets,
There's parking lots where buildings used to be.
Night still falls but it doesn't make a sound.
Long shadows fall on the streets of the cold mill towns. CHORUS

Rich McCarthy

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Don't follow me down, boys
From: RichM
Date: 12 May 04 - 10:46 AM

Oops...
The first four lines I quoted above are NOT lyrics; the song starts
" heard a voice call..."

Rich

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Don't follow me down, boys
From: black walnut
Date: 12 May 04 - 11:26 AM

Yup. That's David Francey alright. His songs really have strong sticky power!

~b.w.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Don't follow me down, boys
From: Marion
Date: 14 May 04 - 10:52 AM

That's the one. Thanks a lot.

Marion