Originally, I was going to write this post about a song named “Le Mineur“. I first heard this song sung by Theodore Bikel, on his album “An Actor’s Holiday”, which was in my parents’ record collection (I was born in 1970, they had vinyl records). I listened to it a lot as a kid, but only got around to transcribing the words a couple years ago. The album has liner notes with lyrics, but I was too lazy to get my folks to lay their hands on them and send me a photo. Plus, it was good practice to transcribe the lyrics by listening.
So I was going to post the transcription and a few notes about it here and be done with it. I still will post them (see below), but along the way I discovered something else I wanted to share. I decided today to check on a few words that I was unsure of, so looked for the words online. As far as I can tell, there is a unique page on the Web that publishes the lyrics to “Le Mineur” (the one sung by Bikel. There are more recent and more popular songs with the same name). That site, fr.lyrics-copy.com, asserts the author was Stéphan Golmann, with whom I was unfamiliar.
On a whim, I clicked on his name and got to his page on fr.lyrics-copy.com. Lo and behold, there was a second song that Bikel covered for his album: “Ma guitare et moi“. I knew it well. This Golmann was a man (mann?) worth learning about.
The Stéphane Golmann wikipedia page shows that “Le Mineur” was originally recorded on Golmann’s album Chanson no. 2 in 1954 (and lists yet a third song Bikel covered for his album Actor’s Holiday). Wikipedia also details Golmann’s career as a guitarist and cabaret performer in Paris during the post-War ’40s and the ’50s. He was a contemporary of George Brassens, Jacques Brel, and Edith Piaf. I don’t know how I missed his existence. You can readily find online audio and video recordings of Stéphane Golmann singing.
Golmann’s father was a Russian mining engineer, so it makes sense that Golmann (fils) would sing the song Le Mineur, which explicitly sets itself in Courrières, France, the site of Europe’s worst mine disaster of all time. It turns out Golmann didn’t write the words, though, they came from the pen of Albert Vidalie. The song tells of a single young miner who dug too deep and got stranded. His prayers to Jesus for rescue go unanswered for 47 years, and when he finally prays to Mary to let him go to heaven upon death, he’s told that heaven is not to be found underground, and he falls into hell. A cheerful tune accompanies the whole thing.
The actual Courrières mine disaster was far worse. In 1906 an explosion in the mines lead to 1,099 deaths. The search for survivors was abandoned after three days, but three weeks later 13 men emerged from the mine entrance having wandered in the dark for many miles before finding an alternate route out. The episode crippled the young administration of Président Fillière, who somehow still managed to serve another 7 years. You can read more about it on Wikipedia (or on Wikipédia if you want to practice your French).
Anyway, here’s the song. I might have a word wrong here or the:
Le Mineur (A. Vidalie, S. Golmann), 1954 Hallelujah! Sous le règne de monsieur Fallières Un jeune mineur de Courrières Trouve en creusant tout au fond Une fameuse veine de charbon. À grand coups de rivelaine Creusant son trou dans la veine Sortit tant tonnes de charbon Qu'il s'enfonça trop profond. Jésus, Jésus sors-moi d'terre Je vois le ciel de Courrières. Oh, Jésus, toi qui a le bras long Sors ton pauvre mineur de fond Jésus et Marie, sa mère Avaient trop de choses à faire. Jamais depuis quarante-sept ans Mineur n'a revu ses parents. Alors Sainte-Marie, marraine Paradis au bout de ma peine? Mais ce truc-là, c'est pas sous terre Mineur tomba aux Enfers. Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, .. Hallelujah!