Lakeman grew up with his two brothers Sean and Sam in the village of Buckland Monachorum in West Devon, England. He began playing music with his parents and two brothers at an early age. As The Lakeman Brothers, the three brothers released their debut album Three Piece Suite in 1994. Later that same year they were invited by two Yorkshire based singers Kathryn Roberts and Kate Rusby to join them as a backing group on a tour of Portugal. After the tour the five musicians became a permanent group and called themselves Equation. The group were signed in a record deal with Time Warner in 1995. After three full albums (Return to Me in 1996, Hazy Daze in 1998, and The Lucky Few in 2000), and tours in the UK, Europe and the United States, Lakeman left Equation in 2001. With his brother Sam he appeared on Sam's wife Cara Dillon's eponymous debut album, which featured Lakeman on fiddle, guitar and vocals. The album won two awards at the 2002 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.
In 2002 Lakeman released his first solo album, The Punch Bowl, which received wide critical acclaim including a review in fRoots magazine which said: "The songs don't just glide smoothly by.....they get their claws into you".
Kitty Jay, Lakeman's second solo album was released in 2004. The title track of the album tells the story of Jay's Grave, a well known location on Dartmoor. That same year he collaborated with Devon singer-songwriter Steve Knightley and young local singer Jenna Witts on the album Western Approaches.
A UK tour in Autumn 2005 followed his Mercury Music Prize nomination, after which Lakeman and his band (regularly brother Sean on guitar, Ben Nichols on bass, Andy Tween on drums), toured extensively with folk-rock band The Levellers, who took to closing their set with a "fiddle off" between Lakeman and Levellers' fiddler Jonathan Sevink. Other support tours with Billy Bragg and Jools Holland brought Lakeman's music to a wider audience.
In March 2006 Lakeman began a UK tour in order to promote his new album Freedom Fields which was released on iScream. He signed to a new major record label, Relentless Records, promptly releasing a new single "Lady of the Sea" in early August 2006.
His fourth solo album, Poor Man's Heaven, was released on 30 June 2008 with an accompanying tour. It introduced a rockier edge to the folk of the previous albums. His fifth solo album, Hearts & Minds, was released on 19 July 2010. Lakeman released his sixth album called Tales From The Barrel House on 18 November 2011.
www.sethlakeman.co.uk
The Colliers
Seth Lakeman Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Where a terrible price was paid.
One hundred and forty colliers lost, and
Twenty only saved.
Down in the ground they're lying
With a dirt so thick inside.
There were many lost in the dark and
When the colliers called out
"Hold your fire!"
The gas in the old deep section
Packed like a wintery drift.
And many a man had a blackened face
Before he'd finished his shift.
The manager had been told
"Don't fire that shot, we'll die!"
There were many lost in the dark and
Dust
When the colliers called out
"Hold your fire!"
The firemen report their missing,
Some say forty days.
The manager he ignored them to cover
His criminal ways.
Now down in the dark they're lying
With a dirt so thick inside.
There were many lost in the dark and
Dust
When the colliers called out
"Hold your fire!"
The family sent white lillies,
And paid for their Sunday best,
And the manager found, well all comes
Down
The colliers had their rest.
We'll go one more time unto the mine
To hear those colliers cry!
There were many lost in the dark and
Dust
When the colliers called out
"Hold your fire!"
Seth Lakeman's song "The Colliers" is a poignant and powerful tribute to the tragic events that occurred in 1910 at the Universal Colliery in Senghenydd, Wales. The disaster resulted in the loss of 440 lives, with only a handful of survivors. The song describes the events leading up to the disaster and the aftermath, with emphasis on the neglect and criminal wrongdoing of the mine's management.
The lyrics speak of the fateful decision made by the manager to ignore the warnings of the colliers and fire a shot, causing the explosion of the gas-filled mine. The song mourns the loss of life and the suffering of the families left behind, with lines such as "The family sent white lilies / And paid for their Sunday best". Yet, there is also a call to action, with the final chorus repeating the words "We'll go one more time unto the mine / To hear those colliers cry!", asking us to remember the tragedy and to never forget the sacrifices made.
Line by Line Meaning
You've heard of the great disaster
You're familiar with the tragic event that happened
Where a terrible price was paid.
It caused a devastating loss
One hundred and forty colliers lost, and
140 miners were lost in the tragedy
Twenty only saved.
Only 20 people survived
Down in the ground they're lying
The miners are buried beneath the earth
With a dirt so thick inside.
They are covered with thick dirt and debris
There were many lost in the dark and
Several people lost their lives in the darkness and
Dust
Choking dust filled the air
When the colliers called out
The miners shouted out when they realized
"Hold your fire!"
That the shot should not be fired
The gas in the old deep section
The dangerous gas in the old mining area
Packed like a wintery drift.
Had accumulated like a snowdrift
And many a man had a blackened face
Many miners had blackened faces because of the coal dust
Before he'd finished his shift.
Even before their shift ended
The manager had been told
The manager was warned that firing a shot could result in
"Don't fire that shot, we'll die!"
Disastrous consequences and put their lives at risk
The firemen report their missing,
The firefighters listed the miners as missing
Some say forty days.
Some believe they were not found for 40 days
The manager he ignored them to cover
The manager ignored their pleas for help to protect himself
His criminal ways.
From any consequences that may arise
Now down in the dark they're lying
The miners' bodies are still in the darkness
With a dirt so thick inside.
Covered in dirt and debris
The family sent white lillies,
The families sent white lilies as a tribute
And paid for their Sunday best,
They paid to dress them up in their best clothes
And the manager found, well all comes
The manager found out that everything comes back
Down
To haunt him in the end
The colliers had their rest.
The miners are now at peace
We'll go one more time unto the mine
We will visit the mine once more, recalling its history
To hear those colliers cry!
To listen to the miners' voices shouting 'Hold your fire!'
Contributed by Thomas R. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
11s River
Me and my little brothers fave song
:)
We've always loved seth but we discovered this wonderful song at sidmouth folk festival last year :)))
dogstar75
Same, this was my fav until Race to be King came along
Robyn vaughan-williams
my girlfriend introduced me to seth and now i cant get enough of him this was the first song i heard from him.
Leah
We learnt about the gredsford disaster and had to listen to it! Now my fav artist lol :)
OneFreeMan Dubstep
Without a doubt the finest track on freedom fields. God i love these people.
ellie gilbert
learnt this at music school awesome! HOLD YOUR FIRE!
Mohammed Hasan
i love this song i am addicted to it
Finley Scott
im learning about this in lockdown
Victoria W
This song has helped my homework a lot, he he he. I can smell those good grades. I have done a newspaper, we had to, do you think it was a good Idea?
Fossil Friendly
I love this song. FYI "hold your fire" refers to the fact that coal is mined through blasting. They'd blast it, sometimes dozens or more times a day, and then shovel up the broken coal. The problem is this can release natural gas and produce coal dust. The gas and the dust built up too much and so the next blast caused an explosion. The mine should have been ventilated and cleaned up to prevent the explosion, but that costs time and money. management even docked the worker's pay for dying.