8. On The Breadline

8. On The Breadline by Eileen Rafferty

On the Breadline depicts the effect of the Depression on a whole town – the community of Stony Stratford in the ‘20s and ‘30s. Written for Worker By Name, the song covers exceptional hardship – such as of redundancy and short-time work experienced by thousands of workers at Wolverton Railway Works.

The Union didn’t have enough money to last through the Depression. They had to put a £1 levy on all members per working day. I lost nearly half my membership over that. Some of them would pass me in the street and look the other side. Some of them have never spoken to me since! And there’s one chap, he’s still he’s got in his head, ‘You b------s cut my benefit down!’ He was only 21 and he’s finished work now so you can tell how long he’s been holding it against me.
(Bill Elliot, Piano and Herrings pub People’s Press 1975, LAMK)

You had to go on your hands and knees and beg for help… They was bad old days, there’s no doubt about that.
(Tom Worker, LAMK 1976)

Eileen Rafferty’s original lyric of 1992 used much of the detail that was dramatised on stage for the documentary play then, as seen here with her verses 2 - 4
It’s all right if you’ve got a good job
   – you can depend on your pay,
Garden parties, chats with the vicar’s wife,
   talk about books and plays.
It’s not the same without a job,
   you live from day to day,
There’s little chance of finding work,
   they just turn you away,
   And it’s hard times on the breadline,
   And it’s hard times on the breadline.
Sometimes you can be lucky and find yourself
   work for a couple of days,
Laundry, labouring, farmhand or painting
   – anything just for pay.
Even Hayes the boatyard who employed so many men,
Has closed down altogether,
   won’t be building boats again,
   And it’s hard times on the breadline,
   And it’s hard times on the breadline.
High Street shops have a living to make,
   they depend on your cash,
They’ll give credit whenever they can,
   but there’s a limit to that.
Hazeldine’s the baker said we needn’t pay at all,
But it makes you feel so useless when your back’s against the wall,
   And it’s hard times on the breadline,
   And it’s hard times on the breadline.

Over the last 20 years the Living Archive Band has performed a shorter version both for live performances and the band’s CD All That’s Changed Vol 2. The score transcribed here follows that later version (2009), as arranged by Sue Malleson and Kevin Adams, with thanks to Eileen Rafferty.

Images and primary source material from LAMK archive
The download is of the original performance from Living Archive’s 1992 show .The later version of the song is featured on the Living Archive Band’s album All That’s Changed Vol 2 (LAMK) of 2009: On The Breadline | The Living Archive Band (bandcamp.com)

Before the Depression: a Hayes-built boat being transported along Stony Stratford High Street

Employees at Wolverton Works

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