Ewan MacColl, Charles Parker, Peggy Seeger - John Axon was a railway man... | Текст песни

• Тексты песен
• Ewan MacColl, Charles Parker, Peggy Seeger
• John Axon was a railway man...

John Axon was a railway man to steam trains born and bred.
He was an engine driver at Edgeley loco shed.
For forty years he followed and served the iron way.
He lost his life upon the track one February day.

Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation, 10th of July 1957

Sir,

I have the honour to report the result of my inquiry into the collision which occurred on Saturday
the 9th of February 1957, when the 11.05 am freight train from Buxton to Arpley got out of control
as it was descending a steep incline on the down line and overtook and collided violently with the
rear of the 8.45 am freight train from Rowsley to Edgley. I regret to report that driver Axon, and
the guard of the Rowsley freight train, were killed.

We present: The Ballad of John Axon, the real life story of a railwayman told by the men who knew
him and worked with him, and set into song by Ewan MacColl.
The year was 1957, the morning bright and gay,
On the 9th of February John Axon drove away.
In a class 8 locomotive from Buxton he did go:
On the road to Chapel–en-le Frith his steam brake pipe did blow.

It’s a seven-mile drop from Bibbington Top, oh Johnny,
It’s 1 in 58 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.

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.