Frances Black

Frances Black - Magdalen Laundry lyrics

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Through the eyes of an innocent child
Can't hide what is burning inside
The shame and the guilt of disgrace
They said she had fallen from grace
To the arms of a train engineer
Who escaped when the verdict was clear
And saw she was quietly installed
In the Magdalen Laundry

And, oh, you can find them there
Slaving each day in the heat and the steam
And, oh, every bloody stain
Will be carefully scrubbed
'Til it's white and it's clean

The Sisters got angry today
They took Bridie Power away
They said she had broken the rules
She swore that the priest from the school...
If only they'd asked why she cried
They said they'd concluded she'd lied
The priest had his own alibi
In the Magdalen Laundry

And, oh, you can find them there
Slaving each day in the heat and the steam
And, oh, every bloody stain
Will be carefully scrubbed
'Til it's white and it's clean

A world set apart by magnolia walls
And it's hard to believe that this happened at all
Pray the meek shall inhert this heart

The Sisters of Mercy still live
In the convent on top of the hill
The walls of the laundries came down
Exposing their sins to the town
The ghosts of the girls who had died
The souls of the ones who survived
Echo their protest inside
The Magdalen Laundry

And, oh, you can find them there
Slaving each day in the heat and the steam
And, oh, every bloody stain
Will be carefully scrubbed
'Til it's white and it's clean

And, oh, you can find them there
Slaving each day in the heat and the steam
And, oh, every bloody stain
Will be carefully scrubbed
'Til it's white and it's clean
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Copyrights:

Author: Don Mescall

Composer: ?

Publisher: Dolphin Traders Ltd.

Details:

Released in: 2003

Language: English

Appearing on: How High The Moon (2005) , The Essential Collection (2008)

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1 Comments found

'Magdalen Laundry' is een instelling waar veelal prostituees werden opgevangen met als doel ze voor te bereiden voor een terugkeer in de maatschappij. Buiten Ierland werd zo'n instelling 'Magdalene Asylum' genoemd.
De eerste opvang in Ierland werd geopend op Leeson Street in Dublin in 1765, opgericht door de protestantse Lady Arabella Denny.
In het begin was het echt een opvang tehuis, maar in de 19de en 20ste eeuw veranderde dat. De vrouwen werden steeds meer behandeld als gevangenen. In de meeste van deze inrichtingen, werden ze verplicht om zwaar lichamelijk werk, zoals was-en naald werk te verrichten. Daarnaast werd er veel tijd besteed aan verplicht bidden Men schat dat ongeveer 30.000 vrouwen in de Ierse laundries (=wasserijen) hebben gezeten.
Alle Magdalen Laundries zijn gesloten. De laatste in Ierland in de plaats Waterford in 1996.
'Magdalena' is vernoemd naar de Magdalena Zusters, een orde van nonnen, die de leiding over de laundries hadden. De vrouwen werden 'Magdalenes' genoemd.

Wie meer wil weten, google de Magdalene Laundry op internet.