Tom Paxton - Sully's Pail lyrics
[Tom Paxton - Sully's Pail lyrics]
I've a thing or two ta tell ya
That I think you ought to know
About that rusty bucket Sully
Carries down below
You're not the first one stranger
That has laughed at Sully's Pail
You're the only one that's laughing now
The rest has heard this tale
Sure, when we was young and had some
Had ten years in the game old Sull
He had a partner and Jim Reilly was his name
They had knocked about
Together, Bingham, Butte, and Coeur D'Alene
And they brawled in every bar-room
From Ely to Fort McLean
Now me and old Ted Johnson
Sure you'll not remember him
We was working at the Rarus had
A stope with Sull and Jim
The four of us together
We was working side-by-side
That's how I chanced to be there
On the night Jim Reilly died
Well, the blastin' had been easy
It was coming out like sand
And we was muckin' out the ore
Those days we mucked by hand
And we was nearly finished
And I hadn't heard a sound
But something must have happened
For Jim Reilly yelled - bad ground
When we headed for the timb'ring
Sully must've took a spill
For when we looked back in there
He was pinned beneath his drill
The ceiling, it was groaning now
All set to drop the lid
And Sully, pinned beneath his drill
Was sobbing like a kid
Well, there's men can watch
Their partners die
Not throw their lives away
But Reilly wasn't one of them
He wasn't built thatway
As soon's he seed what happened
"Hey, hold on there, sull!" he cried
And before he had the words out
He had thrown the drill aside
They come around the ore car
Reilly wearing a big grin
Guess he never knew what happened when
The hanging wall caved in
Sully reached the timb'ring
His face as white as chalk
And Reilly, two yards back of him
Caught fifteen tons of rock
That day Sully's pail was buried
He ate from Reilly's pail in tears
And he's carried that same bucket now
For more than twenty years
So, you can laugh at Sull because
He's mean and drinks a lot
But don't laugh at Sully's bucket
That's the only friend he's got
That I think you ought to know
About that rusty bucket Sully
Carries down below
You're not the first one stranger
That has laughed at Sully's Pail
You're the only one that's laughing now
The rest has heard this tale
Sure, when we was young and had some
Had ten years in the game old Sull
He had a partner and Jim Reilly was his name
They had knocked about
Together, Bingham, Butte, and Coeur D'Alene
And they brawled in every bar-room
From Ely to Fort McLean
Now me and old Ted Johnson
Sure you'll not remember him
We was working at the Rarus had
A stope with Sull and Jim
The four of us together
We was working side-by-side
That's how I chanced to be there
On the night Jim Reilly died
Well, the blastin' had been easy
It was coming out like sand
And we was muckin' out the ore
Those days we mucked by hand
And we was nearly finished
And I hadn't heard a sound
But something must have happened
For Jim Reilly yelled - bad ground
When we headed for the timb'ring
Sully must've took a spill
For when we looked back in there
He was pinned beneath his drill
The ceiling, it was groaning now
All set to drop the lid
And Sully, pinned beneath his drill
Was sobbing like a kid
Well, there's men can watch
Their partners die
Not throw their lives away
But Reilly wasn't one of them
He wasn't built thatway
As soon's he seed what happened
"Hey, hold on there, sull!" he cried
And before he had the words out
He had thrown the drill aside
They come around the ore car
Reilly wearing a big grin
Guess he never knew what happened when
The hanging wall caved in
Sully reached the timb'ring
His face as white as chalk
And Reilly, two yards back of him
Caught fifteen tons of rock
That day Sully's pail was buried
He ate from Reilly's pail in tears
And he's carried that same bucket now
For more than twenty years
So, you can laugh at Sull because
He's mean and drinks a lot
But don't laugh at Sully's bucket
That's the only friend he's got