NEW ZEALAND
WORK*SONG 		Gravedigger's Lament
  Bob Lovell   2023

Bob was looking for a job in the 1970s, and applied for a gravedigger's  position in West Auckland. He was turned down at first, because he had a brace on one leg after an accident. But when no one else applied, he got the job, and the steady exercise strengthened his leg.

 
Oh six feet down boys she’s a hard old dig
Six feet down she’s a hard old dig
With ya shovel and ya pick and ya measuring stick
Oh six foot down boys she’s a hard old dig.

1. In the summer hard as rock
Blisters and blood all on ya hands and the sweat all running down.
In the winter in the boggy old ground - in the boggy old ground,
Ya gotta be careful you don't slip 'cause you might drown.

       Oh six feet down _  _  _

2. Times policeman come they do come
Saying dig that grave up there son
Ya don’t ask reasons why
a just do your job and dig right down

Then times it’s a reopen boys
when ya put another person in
But ya gotta be careful as to what you do
If the coffin top’s rotten, y’kin fall right through….Hoo!”

      Oh six feet down _  _  _
         

3. Now...! ayyyy, after a hard days work
I get to the pub for a pint or two
To wash the dust and sweat away
and watch the dancing people play 

I sit in the corner all alone, people scatter,
they leave me alone.
I often hear them say it’s the grave digger 

Ohhh we’d  better stay away.

      Oh six feet down _  _  _


Now...! One time in the pub some chap comes up to me,
I thought I know what he’s going to say, he’s curious you see,
He said to me what’s it like do you see ghosties and things 

I smile and gave him a wicked look I said
They're all my friends and when I’m digging in the ground
All the ghosts and spooky’s come around,
They give me a hand on Rainy Days, ah they help me along

      Oh six feet down _  _  _

4. Now some people say what a horrible job they’d stay away
but I always reply it’s a popular job you see
They say popular what do you mean?
I say its popular cause everybody's  dying to get get in
All dying to get in.

Oh six feet down boys she’s a hard old dig
Six.   Feet.   Down.

Bob Lovell
Bob Lovell is a singer/songwriter, a recording artist and campaigner for Romani rights. He lives with his wife Jayne in Auckland. He is the first Welsh Romany male to be born in New Zealand.

 Sir Anthony Hopkins has said that we live in a "packaging culture," admiring the packaging and ignoring the quality of the content, or its connection with consumers, and many mainstream but  self-centred "folk" singers now turn out overdubbed hifi tracks with vacuous "lyrics" added as an afterthought; lyrics which have no point of connection with their users.

But authentic content and connection with his audience are very important factors for Bob. His "talking-blues" verses allow his audience to share his experience as a gravedigger, and when they join together in singing his chorus that re-creates the staccato rhythm of his digging, they are united thtough the sharing of that experience.

This webpage put onto folksong.org.nz website in May 2024

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