Pete Seeger - Fare Ye Well, Old Ely Branch lyrics

Fare ye well old Ely Branch, fare ye well I say I'm tired o' livin' on dried beef and tomatoes And I'm a-goin' away When we had a strike in Ely this spring, these words ol' Hughes did say Come along boys go back to work, we'll give you the two weeks' pays When they put on their mining clothes, hard work again they tried And when ol' payday rolled around, they found ol' Hughes had lied So fare ye well old Ely Branch, fare ye well I say I'm tired o' livin' on dried beef and tomatoes And I'm a-goin' away When Hughes thinks his mines was goin' to stop, a sight to see him frown There's gas enough in old Hughes, to blow these mountains down Oh take your children outta Ely Branch, before they cry for bread For when ol' Hughes' debts are paid, he won't be worth a thread So fare ye well old Ely Branch, fare ye well I say I'm tired o' livin' on dried beef and tomatoes And I'm a-goin' away Now Hughes claims he owns more mines than these, he says he gots money to lend But when ol' payday rolls around, he can't pay off his men I'd rather be in Pine Grove jail with my back all covered in lice Than to be in old Hughes' coal mines, diggin' coal at Hughes' price I think John Yaeger's a very nice man, he's the same ol' John every day But a man can't live can't live on dried beef and tomatoes, an' I'm a-goin' away So fare ye well old Ely Branch, fare ye well I say I'm tired o' livin' on dried beef and tomatoes And I'm a-goin' away