The band is one of the few outfits still burning with the fire of punk, but managing to combine it with the ideals and knowledge of English folk music - a balancing act they've made into a fine art over the years. And they have deep roots in the U.K. folk scene, emerging from both the Whitstable Oyster Co. Ceilidh Band, which formed in 1975, and Fiddler's Dram, a group put together in 1973 by Dave Arbus, whose fiddle work had graced releases by East of Eden and the Who.
Prosser, Telfer, and Taylor were also in Fiddler's Dram, whose moment of fame arrived in 1979 with the British hit single "Day Trip to Bangor" - released after they'd split up. They reconvened for a last album when Kearey joined them. He also became part of the band's alter ego, the roots-oriented Oyster Ceilidh Band, as they'd now become. With Fiddler's Dram no longer extant, the members put their energies in the newly renamed Oyster Band in 1981, playing gigs around England and self-releasing albums on their own Pukka label.
The band returned in 2003 after the longest recording layoff of its career with Rise Above, which included eight originals and two English traditional numbers, and featured the work of Irish piper James O'Grady throughout.
In 1990, the band collaborated with renowned folk singer June Tabor for the album Freedom and Rain and a tour.
Current Lineup:
Chopper - bass guitar, cello, vocals
John Jones - melodeon, lead vocals
Alan Prosser - guitars, viola, vocals
Ian Telfer - fiddle, English concertina, vocals
Dil Davies - drums
http://www.oysterband.co.uk/
Coal Not Dole
Oysterband Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A ghostlike figure on the hill
It seems so strange there is no sound
Now there are no men underground
What will become of this pit-yard
Where men once trampled, faces hard
Tired and weary, their shift done
Never having seen the sun
Will it become a sacred ground
Foreign tourists gazing round?
Asking if there once worked here
Way beneath the pit-head gear
Empty trucks once filled with coal
Lined up like men on the dole
Will they ever he used again
Or left for scrap just like the men?
There'll always be a happy hour
For those with money, jobs and power
They'll never realise the hurt
They cause to men they treat like dirt.
The lyrics to Coal Not Dole by Oysterband describe the aftermath of the closure of a coal mine. The first verse sets the scene of a large, still wheel standing tall on a hill, now unused since there are no longer any men working underground. The second verse contemplates the fate of the pit-yard, where for years the tough, tired men of the mining community once worked. The lyrics suggest that without these men, the pit-yard may become a tourist attraction, with foreign visitors wandering around asking if there were once workers down below. The empty trucks and pit-head gear may end up in scrap piles, abandoned and forgotten, just like the men who once worked there.
The final verse reveals a bitterness towards those who hold power and money, and who have seemingly caused the closure and suffering of the mining community. The lyrics express the idea that the wealthy and powerful will never truly understand the pain and hurt that they have caused to those who they have treated poorly. The song's title, Coal Not Dole, is a reference to the miners' strike in Britain in the mid-1980s, where workers fought to save their jobs and industry against government closures.
Line by Line Meaning
It stands so proud, the wheel so still
The pit-wheel looks majestic but is now dormant
A ghostlike figure on the hill
The pit-wheel looks eerie and lifeless
It seems so strange there is no sound
The silence at the once-bustling pit-yard is unsettling
Now there are no men underground
Nobody is toiling underground, the mine is abandoned
What will become of this pit-yard
The future of the pit-yard is uncertain
Where men once trampled, faces hard
The pit-yard was once a place of hard-work and resilience
Tired and weary, their shift done
Men worked tirelessly, leaving spent after their shift
Never having seen the sun
Working underground meant they never saw daylight
Will it become a sacred ground
Could the pit-yard become a revered site?
Foreign tourists gazing round?
Might foreigners come and visit the site?
Asking if there once worked here
They'll question the former function of the place
Way beneath the pit-head gear
Asking what was beneath the pit-head machinery
Empty trucks once filled with coal
The abandoned trucks were once teeming with coal
Lined up like men on the dole
The empty coal trucks look like men waiting for unemployment benefits
Will they ever he used again
Might the trucks be repurposed sometime?
Or left for scrap just like the men?
Or might the trucks, like the men, be forgotten and discarded?
There'll always be a happy hour
Wealthy and powerful people always have something to celebrate
For those with money, jobs and power
The privileged ones have access to cash, work, and clout
They'll never realise the hurt
They'll remain unaware of the pain they cause
They cause to men they treat like dirt.
The wealthy cause harm to men who they treat as expendable
Contributed by Cole E. Suggest a correction in the comments below.