lisa O’Neil, “rock the machine’
from: heard a long gone song, 2018
“I’m losing will, love
My hands are soft as cotton gloves
Machine has eaten up my job
My meaning, my cause
Machine with the strength of a hundred men
Can’t feed and clothe my children
Can’t greet a sailor coming in
Or know of desperation
I shovel coal down Spencer’s dock
I took your dear into wedlock
And you did bear us a beautiful flock
River rock the machine down on the docks
River rock the machine until it stops
Oh low Liffey, show me gold
Like a heron I will go
Oh roaring Liffey when you’re high
Like a cormorant I will dive
In the Galway glow at night we rise
We’re gold enough to win back time
We’re gold enough to win back the pride
River rock the machine until it dies
Today, dear, I’m unemployed
Before I spoke, you read my eyes
I feared of nothing or no one
But I feel old and I’m so young
I miss the graft, I miss the boys
I plead for purpose in the void
Time is inward, ticking tighter
I wish my load was a mountain lighter
I shovel coal down Spencer’s dock
I took your dear into wedlock
And you did bear us a beautiful flock
River rock the machine down on the docks
River rock the machine until it stops
Oh low Liffey, show me gold
Like a heron I will go
Oh roaring Liffey when you’re high
Like a cormorant I will dive
In the Galway glow at night we rise
We’re gold enough to win back time
We’re gold enough to win back the pride
River rock the machine until it dies
River rock the machine down on the docks
River rock the machine until it stops
”
Stunning historico-poetic anthem, aimed direct hit manifesto- like at the targets that enabled a hard life of labor in the port of Dublin. Ms. O’Neil has connected deeply with her voice, one that conveys her placid distaste for the machinations of class. “River rock the machine until it dies.” Quite a stunning photo essay juxtaposing a spinning web of contradictions.
Captain Beefheart
““You can tell by the kindness of a dog
how a human should be””