Shut Doon the Waggon Works
Original Lyrics
Revised Lyrics
The lights are going out on the edge of Ghost Town
As a coldness penetrates through curtained windows
For the colliery streets shed no warmth light or heat
There is no joy or friendship here in winter
As me and my marrers go to get ourselves a pint
All we get are looks which make us shiver
For the people have changed though the place still looks the same
But the waggons don't run here anymore
Times are hard in this world when you get put out of work
The people up in power have shut down the waggon works
There are jobs up for grabs in other parts I hear
While our village has been scrapped through lack of care
They've decided to scrap jobs in the places they matter most
Though the towers still belch their smoke into the air
Times are hard in this world when you get put out of work
The people up in power have shut down the waggon works
The lights are going out on the edge of Ghost Town
As a coldness penetrates through curtained windows
For the colliery streets shed no warmth light or heat
There is no joy or friendship here in winter
Times are hard in this world when you get put out of work
The people up in power have shut down the waggon works
Times are hard in this world when you get put out of work
The people up in power have shut down the waggon works
(Gary Miller)
Lights are going out on the edge of a ghost town
That once was the railway’s shining crown
A hundred and fifty years of tradition down the pan
We thought that we never could go down
To look across this valley, so green amidst the grey
And to think that this is where it all began
From Locomotion No.1 to the latest high speed train
And every piece of rolling stock that ever ran
Times are hard in this world when you get put out of work
The people up in power have shut down the waggon works
We supplied the world turning profit year by year
Now our town has been scrapped and left to die
They can deprive us of investment but not deprive us of our hope
For this community is strong and will survive
Times are hard in this world when you get put out of work
The people up in power have shut down the waggon works
The lights have gone out on the heart of our ghost town
But the lights have not gone out on its soul
Like a phoenix from the ashes see it rise and fly again
Triumphant, reborn, with a new goal
Times are hard in this world when you get put out of work
The people up in power have shut down the waggon works
Times are hard in this world when you get put out of work
The people up in power have shut down the waggon works
(Gary Miller)
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Releases (on Whippet Records unless otherwise stated)

"Volnitza" [Various Artists]
2xLP (1in12006/7, 1 in 12 Records) 1989

Video Clips
The Whisky Priests performing 'Shut Doon The Waggon Works'
live at Kalaka Folk Festival, Miscolc, Hungary, on 12th July 1992.
live at Kalaka Folk Festival, Miscolc, Hungary, on 12th July 1992.