More Than Money

A breaker’s life is solid, 'til the fire burns away
Every day is danger’s way of sharpening up the blade
Old tunnels play those tricks on you
Heed no hopeless tale
Keep your hand upon the hammer
And your eye upon the scale
With all this trouble ended now
These men will have their rights
After many years of bondage
Digging days and digging nights
This honest weight of labour
Bold breakers never fail
Keep your hand upon the hammer
And your eye upon the scale
More than money can weigh you down
More than money can dig new ground
Let no union man be weakened
By the papers' false reports
You can’t read or write when you work all night
And you fight for freedom’s cause
Raise the rhythm, drive the drill in
Ride that rusty nail
Keep your hand upon the hammer
And your eye upon the scale
You’ve been docked and flogged and shocked my boys
You’ve been loading two-to-one
Spilling carts and falling sparks
They’re slicing up your lungs
Overalls and cans for rockers
In shanties sleep on rails
Keep your hand upon the hammer
And your eye upon the scale
Bear a lonely witness to these images of time
Meat and muscle, trade and hustle
Reap those dirty rhymes
No quick return as daylight burns
These tears of sweat prevail
Keep your hand upon the hammer
And your eye upon the scale