Lyr Req: The Steelworkers song / Steelmen

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Steelworkers song
From: GUEST,bradfordian
Date: 03 Oct 15 - 08:04 AM

Apologies for the thread creep, but may I recommend Nutty's "THE DRAGON LIES DEAD" --a song about the demise of the iron and steel works of the north east--from her 2010 CD "Sing with me now" but so very topical just now!

"there was a dragon at the end of our , it belched black smoke and spat out red fire...........but now all is silent, I see nothing more, save the heron that flies overhead......oh not by St George, but by politicians, this dragon is slain and lies dead......."

bradfordian

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Steelworkers song
From: GUEST,Barney
Date: 03 Oct 15 - 04:21 AM

That great chanter Pete Betts, has sadly died, we attended his funeral yesterday.. Great friend and neighbour, his son Chris compared his loss to that of the recent loss of steelmaking on Teesside. The singing of the congregation at the service was very loud and emotional.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Steelworkers song
From: GUEST,Ian Hendrie
Date: 03 Oct 15 - 04:13 AM

The lyrics above corresponded with the Ron's own recording and as I have them in a book entitled "Out of the Sun - Original Songs and Tunes from Cleveland". There are only the first three verses and it gives the date of the song as 1972. On the recording there are four additional verses (probably written between 1989, the date the songbook was produced, and the date of the recording).

STEELMEN
(Ron Angel)

Chorus:
Hammer it, weld it, roll it to and fro.
Cleveland steel is of the best I'd have you all to know.
Forge it, cast it, mould it how you like,
Neat as a Geordie hinny bird and tough as a Yorkshire tyke.

There's men that work below the ground where daylight never comes
And some grow food upon the land and only get the crumbs.
Some stand by the assembly line and wish the time would fly.
But gimme the lad to roll the slab and bounce the sparks up high.

The cold Northeaster from the Gare'll freeze your very soul.
Then it's the open hearth for me or where the ingots roll,
Where thunder shakes the walls about and trembles all the floor
And sparks jump out the soaking pits and sweat runs down galore.

Take iron by the wagon load and burn it till it's white.
Then blast it through with jets of gas until your mixture's right.
Then shovel in your lumps of lime and set the sky aglow.
Add some spit and lots of sweat and make your steel to flow.

We sold our steel across the world and they all came to buy
Then someone bought the firm up, now they say we're going to die
They didn't even talk to to us to tell us of their plan
And then we heard it on the news, we're going down the pan

They said it's not a buy-out, just a merger that is all
But the orders come from Holland now and we're up against the wall
They only mean to rationalise, the excuses are well meant
But shareholders anonymous gains 24 percent

The workshop of the world one time, they used to call us here
Now the ships are gone, the pits are gone and steel won't last a year
We used to manufacture things, proud to be high grade
But soon we'll just assemble stuff that other folks have made

The skills and the experience, the reputation too
Not valued anymore it seems, get rid of all that crew
Crack teams of men will be dispersed, never to be replaced
They'll swap this hive of industry for industrial bloody waste

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Steelworkers song
From: GUEST,Ian Hendrie
Date: 02 Oct 15 - 03:23 PM

This recording of Cleveland Steel by Ron Angel has three additional verses which bring the song more up-to-date.

I'll transcribe the lyrics when I get a chance.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Steelworkers song
From: GUEST,Ian Hendrie
Date: 02 Oct 15 - 02:44 PM

In view of the recent closure of the Redcar steelworks it's worth reminding ourselves of this 1972 song from RON angel.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Steelworkers song
From: Francy
Date: 17 May 04 - 08:13 PM

We had English balladeer Richard Grainger in concert here in Toledo, Oregon in November 2000...He had a cd then entitled Town In Time (Songs and Tunes pf Middlesbrough "The English Klondike". this song was one of them.......He was a real pleasure to have here in the Pacific Northwest and am looking foroweard to having him again....Frank of Toledo

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Steelworkers song
From: GUEST,MCP
Date: 17 May 04 - 05:12 PM

Julie

That's where I came from too (though left 30 odd years now). If you need any help with older songs from there you can reach me at MCPearce0ATaolDOTcom (that's a zero at the end of my name). Mudcat member nutty is still in that area and Pete Betts also makes an occasional appearance (as Betsy IIRC) - they'll have a better idea about newer songs. (I'm sure there's another regular from the Tesside area, but I can't recall who).

Mick

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Steelworkers song
From: novice
Date: 17 May 04 - 04:06 PM

I'm so impressed, pretty good response for my first time...thanks ever so much.

This has encouraged me to consider researching and putting together a collection of songs from 'my neck of the woods' (which is the Middlesbrough area) for my own interest (getting back to my roots) and to educate my children who are all London born.

Thanks again to y'all.

Julie

Subject: Lyr/Tune Add: STEELMEN (Ron Angel)
From: GUEST,MCP
Date: 15 May 04 - 10:30 AM

I thought I'd seen this in the Forum before, but I can't find it, so here's the words and tune, from the Fettlers' LP Travelling The Tees (Tradition: TSR021, 1975). The song also appears in the book by Richards & Stubbs -The English Folksinger. I have mainly taken the tune from there, though retranscribed to the key of the album and with the repeated last line of the final chorus added, where the ending of the tune is very slightly changed.

The album notes say: "Even in this heavily automated age, a visit to a steel works can be an awe-inspiring experience. Some time ago, Mac (who is an engineer in the BSC Electronics Dept.) took the rest of the group on a guided tour of the local works. Shortly afterwards Ron 'found' this song in his briefcase"

The notes in Richards & Stubbs say: "Written in 1970. This magnificent song full of the rhythms and sounds of a steelworks, comes from the prolific Ron Angel who wrote it after a visit to a works on Teesside"

Mick

---

STEELMEN
(Ron Angel)

Chorus:
Hammer it, weld it, roll it to and fro.
Cleveland steel is of the best I'd have yers all to know.
Forge it, cast it, mould it how you like,
Neat as a Geordie hinny bird and tough as a Yorkshire tyke.

There's men that work below the ground where daylight never comes
And some grow food upon the land and only get the crumbs.
There's men stand in the assembly line and wish the time would fly.
But gimme the lad to roll the slab and bounce the sparks up high.

The cold Northeaster from the Gare'll freeze your very soul.
Then it's the open hearth for me or where the ingots roll,
Where thunder shakes the walls about and trembles all the floor
And sparks jump out the soaking pits and sweat runs down galore.

Take iron by the waggon-load and burn it till it's white.
Then blast it through with jets of gas until your mixture's right.
Then shovel in your lumps of lime and set the sky aglow.
Add some spit and lots of sweat and make your steel to flow.

There's men that work below the ground where daylight never comes
And some grow food upon the land and only get the crumbs.
There's men stand in the assembly line and wish the time would fly.
But gimme the lad to roll the slab and bounce the sparks up high.

At end of last chorus repeat line, tune slightly altered at end:
Neat as a Geordie hinny bird and tough as a Yorkshire tyke.


Source: Teesside Fettlers LP: Travelling The Tees

---

X:1
T:Steelmen
C:Words & Tune: Ron Angel
S:Teesside Fettlers LP: Travelling The Tees and Richards & Stubbs:The English Folksinger
L:1/8
M:2/4
Q:1/4=100
K:AAeo
"^Chorus:"
A>A E2|A2 E2|c>B A>B|G4|
w:Ham-mer it, weld it, roll it to and fro.
A>A G>G|E>E D>D|C>C D>G|E4|
w:Cleve-land steel is of the best I'd have yers all to know.
A2 E2|A2 E2|c>B A>B|G4|
w:Forge it, cast it, mould it how you like,
(3EEE A>B|(3AGE- E>D|(3EEE D>B,| A,4||
w:Neat as a Geor-die hin-ny bird_ and tough as a York-shire tyke.
"^Verse:"
A4|A>A A>B|A>G E>G|(3AB-B- (3BAG|E2 z
w:There's men that work be-low the ground where day-light__ nev-er comes
A|A>G E>G| C>B, A,>B,|(3CC-C- (3CCD|B,3
w:And some grow food up-on the land and on-ly__ get the crumbs.
B,|(3A,E-E (3EEE|E>D B,>A|A>A G>G|E3
w:There's men stand_ in the as-sem-bly line and wish the time would fly.
E|(3DDD E>E|C>C D>E|A>E D>B,|A,4||
w:But gim-me the lad to roll the slab and bounce the sparks up high.
"^Final Chorus:"
A>A E2|A2 E2|c>B A>B|G4|
w:Ham-mer it, weld it, roll it to and fro.
A>A G>G|E>E D>D|C>C D>G|E4|
w:Cleve-land steel is of the best I'd have yers all to know.
A2 E2|A2 E2|c>B A>B|G4|
w:Forge it, cast it, mould it how you like,
(3EEE A>B|(3AGE- E>D|(3EEE D>B,| A,4||
w:Neat as a Geor-die hin-ny bird_ and tough as a York-shire tyke.
(3EEE A>B|(3AGE- E>D|(3EAA A>G| A4||
w:Neat as a Geor-die hin-ny bird_ and tough as a York-shire tyke.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Steelworkers song
From: GUEST
Date: 15 May 04 - 10:06 AM

Ron Angel - great songwriter,singer,tin whistle & flute and a true gentleman. One of the North East of England's vast school of writers.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Steelworkers song
From: GUEST,MCP
Date: 15 May 04 - 09:16 AM

The song is Ron Angel's Steelmen. I'll put up the words and tune in a while if noone else does.

Mick

Subject: Lyr Req: The Steelworkers song
From: novice
Date: 15 May 04 - 08:33 AM

I'm trying to find tune and lyrics to this Teesside Fettlers song - some of it goes like this...

Hammer it, weld it, roll it to and fro.
Cleveland steel is of the best I'll have you'se all to know.
Forge it cast it, mould it how you like.
Neat as a Geordie Hinny bird and tough as a Yorkshire Tyke

I remember it as a great song from one of the Fettlers albums either 'The great tin whistle pest' or 'Ring of Iron'. Neither of which I have a copy of any more...whilst I'm on I'd be most grateful if anyone out there knows if/where I could get hold of these tunes on tape/cd nowadays.