Alex Sturbaum 2017
“I spent nearly half a decade working in Western Washington, doing environmental restoration inÿ the Puget Sound area. It’s hard and fulfilling work, and I thought it was just as deserving of aÿ song as whaling, mining, logging, and other hard labor I’ve spent years singing about. Scotch broom is a plant that is well loved in the music of Scotland, but it’s a pernicious invasive speciesÿ out here.”
Alex Sturbaum: https://alexsturbaum.bandcamp.com/track/pulling-broom
https://alexsturbaum.bandcamp.com/track/pulling-broom
It was on one winter morning clearÿ We loaded up and packed our gearÿ We lit out at the break of dayÿ We were pulling broom up Concrete way Chorus And it’s one more day, of the smell of earth and woodsmokeÿ ÿOne more day, pulling broomÿ The Scotch broom fields grew thick and wideÿ River roaring on the other sideÿ Get up, buddy, no time to sleepÿ For the broom grows high and the roots run deepÿ Little owl calling in the Doug fir treesÿ As the grey dawn wakes us from our easeÿ In the morning sun we’re on the roadÿ With a big iron bar and a heavy loadÿ The Northwest rain comes pouring downÿ So hard you feel like you might drownÿ So you bend your backs and you pull togetherÿ And hope like hell for better weatherÿ Now the burn pile’s stacked and the fire’s died downÿ And before too long we’ll be homeward boundÿ Come sundown we’ll be on our wayÿ With an aching back and a full week’s pay