OzeAuMusic

Lyrics

Up in the Hunter where the black coal lies The morning breaks beneath working skies A fitter's hands and a miner's pay Keep a little town alive each day

They had the coal, they had the plan They had the work for a working man Then judges sitting miles away Decided what the rest would pay

The activists cheered, the lawyers grinned Another battle they claimed they'd win

All for nothing, all again Round and round, when will it end? We lose the work, they take the gain And the coal still burns just the same

Raise your glass to the grand campaign Another victory, another chain We pay the price, they claim the fame All for nothing, all again

They wore their robes, they knew the law But did they count what the people saw? A judgement written, a future sold While other nations dig our coal

The activists danced, their banners high Another victory beneath the sky But ships still sail and furnaces glow And someone else gets paid for coal

You can close the pit, you can stop the train But you can't make the world's demand just fade

All for nothing, all again Round and round, when will it end? We lose the work, they take the gain And the coal still burns just the same

Raise your glass to the grand campaign Another victory, another chain We pay the price, they claim the fame All for nothing, all again

Down in the valley where the brown coal lies We could build the power before our eyes But the same old voices, the same old game Call every builder a man of shame

They'd rather buy what we could make And leave our children the bill to take They call it virtue, they call it green While dismantling the working machine

Is it justice when a nation bleeds? When the law forgets what a country needs? Call it conscience, call it care Looks like betrayal from over there

And when the lights dim in their own fine homes When the bills arrive and the money's gone The judge, the lawyer, the activist too Will pay the price with me and you

You can't eat a ruling You can't burn a speech You can't build a future With the work out of reach!

All for nothing, all again Round and round, when will it end? We lose the work, they take the gain And the coal still burns just the same

Raise your glass to the grand campaign Another victory, another chain We pay the price, they claim the fame All for nothing, all again

The judge goes home, the banners fall But the bill comes due for one and all The rich, the poor, the foe, the friend We'll all pay for it in the end

All for nothing All again.