A Boy In Darkness

[I: Brookbottom Colliery, Heanor, Derbyshire, 1842]

[Intro]

"His name is Godfrey Fletcher, eleven years old

Worked these pits for nearly three years

Does not know the alphabet, cannot read in the least"

[Verse 1]

The pit shall keep him body and soul

But better that than going to school or ploughing the field

It's hot as any fire and brimstone Methodist's sermon down here

(Ah) In the awesome stillness of the deep black

[Refrain]

A boy in darkness

A boy in darkness

[Verse 2]

The seam they work is more than a yard

The headway here is nearly four feet

He hears the eerie sound of the whistling wind

Deep down here in the dry and the heat

[Refrain]

A boy in darkness

A boy in darkness

[II: The March of Progress, Enlightenment and the Passing of Time]

[Instrumental]

[III: Present Times]

[Intro]

Oh...

[Verse 3]

Once upon a time, a secret shared

Threatened not to breathe a word to a living soul

Especially mother

He was just a boy, but even though

It wasn't the way it's supposed to go

He needed a father, not this hunter

[Pre-Chorus]

To speak of the unspeakable

Takes guts and nerve

It's going to disturb

He can't bring himself to say the words

[Chorus]

Misplaced blind faith in church and state

Tied up in too much red tape

But if help comes, pray not too late

We face ourselves, look long and hard

Make the difference, a safer place

But most of all, don't be afraid to shine

Light into the dark

[Refrain]

A boy in darkness

A boy in darkness

[Instrumental Outro]