Youtor
7 12 Years Old
YOUR LINK HERE:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=P3XdaTEr_Bg
From Sweet Liberties, '12 Years Old' by Martyn Joseph, performed at Cecil Sharp House, London on 28th November 2015. • The Factory Act of 1833 set out to improve conditions for children working in factories. This song focuses on a conversation between two children a hundred years apart. We would rightly presume that life is better for a child now, but the dialogue suggests that some important social aspects of children’s lives have actually declined. • Nick Cooke - melodeon • Nancy Kerr - fiddle, vocals • Sam Carter - guitar, vocals • Maz O'Connor - tenor guitar, vocals • Martyn Joseph - guitar, vocals • Patsy Reid – fiddle • Twelve years old, no more school • No more desks for me • Twelve years old, no more school • A Tommy box and can to carry my tea, I am • Twelve years old and I’ll do a man’s job • With a body that’s half of the size • Twelve years old, deep down in the dark • There’s no books where the coalface lies • All fall down • Ring-a-ring-a-ring-a-roses, fall down • And pockets full of stories • When does a boy become a man? • When should a girl become a woman? • Twelve years old and I’m looking out • At a burnt-out car in the field • And my sisters they laugh into mobile phones • But to who it will not be revealed • And I think of you then so long ago • Teacher told me it was cruel and wrong • But in some ways I’d have loved to have been by your side • For at least you knew you belonged • All fall down • Ring-a-ring-a-ring-a-roses, fall down • And pockets full of stories • When does a boy become a man? • When should a girl become a woman? • When the distant whistle blows from our working pit • I fell asleep just the other day • And I thought I heard a voice cry out • That I wasn’t alone in God’s sake • That in a hundred years’ time and on other lands • There’d be children no older than I • Bringing up orphans of parents struck down • Still no justice under the sky • Twelve years old, I go to school • And for the house I have my own key • And my mum’s very busy, she just seems to me • A computer screen waits for me • The shift ends and I smile at my Dad • Twelve years old and the story is written • Too soon we are women and men • So all fall down • Ring-a-ring-a-ring-a-roses, fall down • And pockets full of stories • When does a boy become a man? • When should a girl become a woman? • • Sweet Liberties is a joint commission by the English Folk Dance Song Society, Folk By The Oak, Parliament In The Making, and PRS for Music Foundation to celebrate the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta and the 750th anniversary of the Simon de Montfort parliament. • For more information about Sweet Liberties, visit: http://www.folkbytheoak.com/sweet-lib... • EFDSS: http://www.efdss.org/ • Folk By The Oak: http://www.folkbytheoak.com • Parliament In The Making: http://www.parliament.uk/about/living... • PRS for Music Foundation: http://www.prsformusicfoundation.com/
#############################
