In 2006, BBC Radio 2 broadcast a series of radio ballads that were based on the original and iconic late 1950s stories and songs about industrial life that involved Ewan McColl, Peggy Seager, and many others. The 2006 versions reflected the realities of heavy industrial decline, and the impacts these had had on communities. I thought of these last night as I watched the classy, and very Briish, Channel 4 programme by Jon Snow about the late Margaret Thatcher – and Jon Snow.
This 2006 ballad, by John Tams, is about the decline of the steel industry around Sheffield and the Don valley. It is a back-handed, but significant, tribute to Mrs Thatcher, whom I once met in another life.
Vulcan sez to Lucifer, "Tha's fallen into t'neet
It's me as meks this valley ring and keeps these flames aleet".
Lucifer to Vulcan sez, "I'm still the gaffa here
I've signed up another demon and it's 'im you'll come to fear
So it's nowt to do wi' me owd lad." Vulcan sez "I know thee game
I bet Thatcher's got a hand in this." Sez Lucifer "For shame!"
"Come on Luci, what's the beggar called?" He answered wi a grin
"Maggie sez his name's MacGregor. It won't be t'last you'll hear of 'im."
Click here for some background, and to hear it sung by Barry Coope. And go here if you'd like to hear it sung by John Tams himself, and to hear the song Steelos. The two are often sung together. These songs usually make me wonder about the realities of (sustainable) development and the inevitable winners and losers in all such processes.
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