The Engine Had Reached the Distant Signal...
By Ewan MacColl, Charles Parker & Peggy Seeger (1965)
On album The Ballad of John Axon (1965)
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The engine had reached the distant signal
When the broken steam pipe began to scream
John Axon and his mate couldn't reach the driver's brake
For the cab was full of scalding steam, poor boys
The cab was full of scalding steam
John Axon he knew that his regulator
Was still wide open and on full power
He couldn't turn it off for the way that it was blocked
And the cab was full of scalding steam, poor boys
The cab was full of scalding steam
They hung on the side and they both took turns
At shifting the regulator from afar
They prodded at the bar with the pricker and the dart
But they couldn't move the iron bar, brave boys
They couldn't move the iron bar
Spoken: ____________
John Axon, he got to the fireman's side
And over the scream of the steam did say
We'll have to get outside if we want to stay alive
Or this'll be our dying day, poor boys
Or this'll be our dying day
The guard, he was waiting to pin down the brakes
The train it didn't slow down that day
He stood in the van with the brake stick in his hand
And he knew she was a runaway, poor boy
He knew she was a runaway
Spoken: ____________
John Axon, he cried to his fireman: Jump!
It is the only thing you can do
While I hang on the side and I'll take a little ride
For I've got to see the journey through, brave boy
I've got to see the journey through
Spoken: ____________
John Axon, he was all alone, there on the engine side
The train it reached the hilltop and began the downhill ride
The sun it was still shining, the sky was still as blue
He gambled with his life that day, and this John Axon knew
Spoken: ____________
You're on your own, mate
King of the footplate
Oooh Johnny, oooh Johnny
What makes you do the things you do, Johnny?
Oh why do you have to see it through, Johnny?
Ooh...Johnny
It's a seven-mile drop from Bibbington Top, oh Johnny
It's one in fifty-eight and you've no steam brake, oh Johnny
She's picking up speed and the power is freed; it's a prayer you'll need
But you'll never make it, Johnny
Every yard of the track says you won't come back, Oh Johnny
She's a fist of steel, every turn of the wheels cry Johnny
There isn't a chance
You'll get to your dance
You can see at a glance
That you'll never make it Johnny
There's a tunnel ahead, you can't cover your head, oh Johnny
Doing sixty an hour and she's gaining power, oh Johnny
Watch out for the wall
Bunch yourself up small
In the smoky pall
Or you'll never make it, Johnny
It's hell on a plate, it's a funeral freight, oh Johnny
It's the end of a dream in steel and steam, oh Johnny
There's a world in your head
And you're due at the shed
And there's life ahead
But you'll never see it, Johnny
All alone now. Ron's gone. On my own now, all the way, all the way
Never make it. How far's all the way? There's a gradient all the way into Whaley
Seven-mile gradient. One in seventy. One in sixty. One in fifty-eight
Wait!
Dove Hole's passed
Going too fast to see if they saw me hanging outside the cab
Down the curving line, through the hill of limestone, Eaves tunnel
Every turn of the four foot wheels
Every lunge of the smooth-armed piston
Every thrust of the two great cylinders
Sings of a man's destruction
Was I born for this?
To hang like a fly on an iron ball
Helpless, on a moving wall
To die, to end
In a welter of blood and oil
Twisted metal, splintered bone
What was it that Jim said, one day in the shed
Jim said, or was it in the pub
What was it that Jim said about steam, about power
Spoken: ____________
Curse the power
Curse the boiler pressure
The burning coal that made it
The fire and the air which fed it
Curse the water which boiled and turned to steam
Curse the steam brake and the nut which connects with the steam brake pipe
Curse the brass of the steam brake valve
Curse the nut of the steam brake valve
Curse the steam
The run it is finished, the shift's nearly ended
So long, mates, so long, remember
A man is a man, he must do what he can
For his brothers
By his deeds you shall know him
By the work of his hand
By the friends who will mourn him
By the love that he bore
By the gift of his courage
And the life that he gave
When the broken steam pipe began to scream
John Axon and his mate couldn't reach the driver's brake
For the cab was full of scalding steam, poor boys
The cab was full of scalding steam
John Axon he knew that his regulator
Was still wide open and on full power
He couldn't turn it off for the way that it was blocked
And the cab was full of scalding steam, poor boys
The cab was full of scalding steam
They hung on the side and they both took turns
At shifting the regulator from afar
They prodded at the bar with the pricker and the dart
But they couldn't move the iron bar, brave boys
They couldn't move the iron bar
Spoken: ____________
John Axon, he got to the fireman's side
And over the scream of the steam did say
We'll have to get outside if we want to stay alive
Or this'll be our dying day, poor boys
Or this'll be our dying day
The guard, he was waiting to pin down the brakes
The train it didn't slow down that day
He stood in the van with the brake stick in his hand
And he knew she was a runaway, poor boy
He knew she was a runaway
Spoken: ____________
John Axon, he cried to his fireman: Jump!
It is the only thing you can do
While I hang on the side and I'll take a little ride
For I've got to see the journey through, brave boy
I've got to see the journey through
Spoken: ____________
John Axon, he was all alone, there on the engine side
The train it reached the hilltop and began the downhill ride
The sun it was still shining, the sky was still as blue
He gambled with his life that day, and this John Axon knew
Spoken: ____________
You're on your own, mate
King of the footplate
Oooh Johnny, oooh Johnny
What makes you do the things you do, Johnny?
Oh why do you have to see it through, Johnny?
Ooh...Johnny
It's a seven-mile drop from Bibbington Top, oh Johnny
It's one in fifty-eight and you've no steam brake, oh Johnny
She's picking up speed and the power is freed; it's a prayer you'll need
But you'll never make it, Johnny
Every yard of the track says you won't come back, Oh Johnny
She's a fist of steel, every turn of the wheels cry Johnny
There isn't a chance
You'll get to your dance
You can see at a glance
That you'll never make it Johnny
There's a tunnel ahead, you can't cover your head, oh Johnny
Doing sixty an hour and she's gaining power, oh Johnny
Watch out for the wall
Bunch yourself up small
In the smoky pall
Or you'll never make it, Johnny
It's hell on a plate, it's a funeral freight, oh Johnny
It's the end of a dream in steel and steam, oh Johnny
There's a world in your head
And you're due at the shed
And there's life ahead
But you'll never see it, Johnny
All alone now. Ron's gone. On my own now, all the way, all the way
Never make it. How far's all the way? There's a gradient all the way into Whaley
Seven-mile gradient. One in seventy. One in sixty. One in fifty-eight
Wait!
Dove Hole's passed
Going too fast to see if they saw me hanging outside the cab
Down the curving line, through the hill of limestone, Eaves tunnel
Every turn of the four foot wheels
Every lunge of the smooth-armed piston
Every thrust of the two great cylinders
Sings of a man's destruction
Was I born for this?
To hang like a fly on an iron ball
Helpless, on a moving wall
To die, to end
In a welter of blood and oil
Twisted metal, splintered bone
What was it that Jim said, one day in the shed
Jim said, or was it in the pub
What was it that Jim said about steam, about power
Spoken: ____________
Curse the power
Curse the boiler pressure
The burning coal that made it
The fire and the air which fed it
Curse the water which boiled and turned to steam
Curse the steam brake and the nut which connects with the steam brake pipe
Curse the brass of the steam brake valve
Curse the nut of the steam brake valve
Curse the steam
The run it is finished, the shift's nearly ended
So long, mates, so long, remember
A man is a man, he must do what he can
For his brothers
By his deeds you shall know him
By the work of his hand
By the friends who will mourn him
By the love that he bore
By the gift of his courage
And the life that he gave
Go back to your search "she said shed take my hand"
Not the right song? Post your comment for help
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