A Retiree's Lament
This article originally appeared in Southern Exposure Vol. 11 No. 4, "'Not No Easy Business:' Interviews with prostitutes." Find more from that issue here.
Lyrics by Roy Greer, a retired cotton mill worker and member of the Brown Lung Association
Music by Joe Pfister, Institute for Southern Studies
Oh me, oh my.
Too sick to live, too poor to die,
Too weak to walk, too fat to fly,
Oh me, oh my.
And on that final round-up day,
I dreamed, the angels came,
And carted me away from here,
In someone else’s name.
I hope they'll open up the gate for me,
I hope they’ll let me in.
I forgot my Medicare card,
I wonder if that’s a sin.
I don’t know how they'll rate me,
Or what of me they’ll think.
I helped to move a mighty barrier.
To get liquor pb the drink.
Though the mills may keep on running,
The dust is here to stay.
It will make the workers sick at first,
Then take their lives away.
Tags
Roy Greer
Retired cotton mill worker and member of the Brown Lung Association. (1983)
Joe Pfister
Joe Pfister is a staff member of the Institute for Southern Studies who sings and writes songs and gets people singing together in his “spare time.” (1986)
Joe Pfister, now on the staff of the Institute for Southern Studies, was a field worker for the Southwest Georgia Project from 1966 to 1976. (1982)
Joe Pfister was a field worker for the Southwest Georgia Project for Community Education from 1966 to 1976. He is currently a staff member of the Institute for Southern Studies and an editor of Southern Exposure. (1981)