Merle Travis, an american coalworker, wrote this song with the help of his grandfather and friends, who also worked in the mine, which was called Paradies, in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky,for generations. So the experience of a coalminers long family tradition influanced every line of this song. So this is a most authentic part of working class art, describing what went wrong in this times, and what we should remember every time, we hear this song.
Company Store = If an employee survived a month of work in the mines he was paid not in U.S. currency but in metals and paper called Coal Strips, which were printed by the coal mining company. Because only the company that printed the strips honored it, or would redeem it, the coal miner had to purchase all of his goods, his food, clothing, and tools from the company store. Hence, the miner would pay monopolistic prices for his goods.
"I owe my soul to the Company Store" - I hope people can come to better understand and respect the pain in that sentence.
Останнє редагування: 7 квітня 2024 21:39:15 від KM_Nemo
Мій малий цих чудіків з двох років слухає:) 
