Story Behind The Song
The lyric originally appeared in "Mill Song," a novel by William Harry Harding, published in 1985 by Holt, Rinehart & Winston (NY)
Song Description
Life in Paterson, New Jersey, once known as Silk City for all the silk dyeing mills.
| Song Length |
3:58 |
Genre |
Blues - Traditional, Blues - General |
| Tempo |
Medium Fast (131 - 150) |
Lead Vocal |
Male Vocal |
| Mood |
Outraged, Annoyed |
Subject |
Justice, City |
| Similar Artists |
Muddy Waters, B.B. King |
Language |
English |
| Era |
1980 - 1989 |
| |
Lyrics
They got a downtown, ain't got no uptown,
they got jails for the union joes,
they got strikebreakers, head-breakers, every kind of hurt-maker,
scare you right out of your clothes.
Life here means paying your dues,
is how you get the Silk City Blues.
They got miles of freight tracks, whole blocks of smoke stakes,
mills running all day long.
They pay two dollar, each dyer, twenty cash to boss liar,
nobody calling that wrong.
Life here a batch of bad news,
is how you get the Silk City Blues.
New York 'round the corner,
spit and you be there.
Train leaving, I ain't on it,
Only job I know is here -- where --
They got the Great Falls,
they got their city hall,
they got parks by the river run.
They got white folk and black folk and laws for both, it's some joke,
you learn to laugh on the run.
Best check the soles of your shoes,
is how you get the Silk City Blues.
This track is on 1 Member Playlists