Smiles for the cameras as the miners return

They say no one has lost and no one has gained

But wiser and stronger the people have changed

And it won't be the same in the village again

Twelve months of bribery, twelve months of lies

Cops in the village to truncheon your bride

Scabs down the back roads to break up the strike

Come out of your houses--there's a war on outside

Attacked in the village, attacked in the courts

Sacked for refusing to bow to their lords

Less than a whisper from Commons and Lords

Retreats from the front when they most need support

Woman and woman in opposing extremes

Between man-made heaven and popular dreams

Between twisted detachment and learning to breathe

One locks the prison one sets herself free

Smiles for the cameras as the miners return

They say no one has lost and no one has gained

But wiser and stronger the people have changed

And it won't be the same in Fitzwilliam again

Cage and canary are left in the mine

Canary still sings as machinery dies

Song breaks the bars which imprison its life

Flies from the pit shaft and into the skies