Words from some of the songs written and performed by
Jeff Barbra and Sarah Pirkle for the play:
"Measured in Labor:  The Coal Creek Project"

I make my living pulling coal from the ground
The work pays good but it's hard
Six days a week for thirty five years
Spent most of my life in the dark

But on Sunday I wake up before the sun does
And I get down on my knees
Saying Lord, I've this one day out of that hole
Could you shine a little light on me

And shine a little light on me, Lord
Shine a little light on me
I go back in the dark tomorrow, Lord
Just shine a little light on me

Now I wonder if folks ever think about me
When they sleep in their warm homes at night
When they walk in the sunshine in the world up there
While I’m down here by carbide light

When my life here is over and my body it lies cold
And all of my work here is done
Don’t you spend any money for a stone over me
Just make sure that I rest in the sun

Oh, and shine a little light on me, Lord
Shine a little light on me
go back in the dark tomorrow, Lord
Just shine a little light on me

Come all hard working people
That would hear an honest tale
About the poor miners
Who died at Fraterville

It was on a Monday morning
the 19^th Day of May
They had gone three miles deep
Digging Coal to earn their pay

When there was a bad explosion
And the entrance caved in
And the air became poisoned
Bringing death to all within

When the church bell started tolling
Lord it rang 200 times
Once for every poor man
That perished in that mine

Now there’s a village full of women
That are grieving for their men
All those sisters, wives and mothers
And one thousand fatherless children

Oh, and some they wrote letters
Awaiting rescue or death
And the last words of one man were
Oh God, for one more breath

Get on your feet girl
Bring a pail of water
When that is gone bring another one
It’s the work of the youngest daughter

We’ll scrub floors and do other chores
And we’ll set right the world around us
We’re proud and we’re poor and there’s one thing for sure
Our worth is measured in labor

Now if you have a life of a working man’s wife
It’s hard to imagine another
Your reward is the care of a husband and
pride in the children that call you mother

God has plans and what he demands
is to use our hands to his favor
But hands will do wrong if they’re idled too long
It’s best if you turn them to labor

Now listen here girl, it’s a hard living world
You were born into there’s no denying
But it’s still a gift if you use it and if
you don’t spend too much time on the crying

It will tear apart too tender a heart
Build a strong wall around it
But walls can fall down and I have found
That grief can be eased by labor

So get on your feet girl
Bring a pail of water
When that is gone bring another one
It’s the work of the youngest daughter

Read more info about the making of the play.

Actors visit Coal Creek

Read article in Knoxville Metro Pulse

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