Waiting at the Gate

Tell the miners' kids and wives
There's a blast in the number five
And the families I see standing at the gate
The inspector years ago said number five's a deadly hole
And the men most likely won't come out alive

Waiting at the gate, we are waiting at the gate
Smoke and fire just roll and boil from that dark and deadly hole
While the miners' kids and wives wait at the gate

The inspector told the boss, it was more than a year ago
You're risking these men's lives in number five
That hole's full of fumes and dust, full of high explosive gas
But the boss said we'll just have to take the chance

Waiting at the gate, we are waiting at the gate
Smoke and fire just roll and boil from that dark and deadly hole
While the miners' kids and wives wait at the gate

Well the men in the number five kissed their wives and kids goodbye
Then they walk with their lunch kits up the hill
Everybody told the owner that this deadly day would come
But he said we had to work to pay our bills

Waiting at the gate, we are waiting at the gate
Smoke and fire just roll and boil from that dark and deadly hole
While the miners' kids and wives wait at the gate

Well I tried to get a look of the face I often know
As the men are carried out wrapped up in sheets
I can hear the church bells ringing for the one hundred eleven dead
I can hear the families weeping in the streets

Waiting at the gate, we are waiting at the gate
Smoke and fire just roll and boil from that dark and deadly hole
While the miners' kids and wives wait at the gate

This explosion struck on Wednesday
And I stood by the gate till Saturday
Till they laid my daddy out with the other men
In the pocket of his shirt I found a little note he wrote
Never go down in a dangerous mine again

Waiting at the gate, we are waiting at the gate
Smoke and fire just roll and boil from that dark and deadly hole
While the miners' kids and wives wait at the gate