I went down to the mine to black diamond country
So the face of the earth would be warm comrade
For years I silently waved a pick in this prison
So that my children would smile comrade
But there is no one smiling in our home
Walk they say walk to hunger they say walk
Black diamond has become a coffin if necessary die they say
The day will come without shame they'll tell those who weep to smile
I've no more patience for lies
Today we didn't go down to the mine to black diamond country
Greetings to you comrade
To these faces that have become pale with a deathly longing for light
Strike strike the sun has risen comrade
From now on there's nothing left to lose
Those oppressed underground call to those on the ground
The minerals are ours they say if necessary death they say
The day has come strike they say comrade
From now on there's nothing left to lose
They came from the depths of the earth
In their hands an underground sun that didn't know how to be silenced
However much suppressed at the bottom
That's how much the echo of their hearts didn't know how to drown
Slowly they came
Then they came everyday in greater numbers
With their women children and applause
They came like yoghurt starters
Like dividing and sharing well done bread
Like water like fire
Every day new mouths were added to their mouths
Their legs met with new roads
Every day new shells began to crack
New ears began to hear what they were saying
In the end they became one city
And changed the name of the country
Lyrics by Grup Yorum.
Poem by Adnan Ozer.
Translated by Leyal Aksu.
[In memory of the Great Miners' Strike by the coalminers of Zonguldak, Turkey from November 30, 1990, to January 27, 1991]