Chemical Worker's Song

[@patyczek-xo3nr]

This guy has an ideal shanty voice

[@DavidCoffinMusic]

That’s why I sing them. Thanks.

[@patyczek-xo3nr]

@@DavidCoffinMusic Oooooh sorry I didn't look on your channel, probably should've done that before i wrote the comment 😅 sorry! But great voice nonetheless

[@DavidCoffinMusic]

@@patyczek-xo3nr Haha. No worries. I took it as a compliment. Cheers.

[@AFKKiyoshi]

Fun fact they actually timed your every breath. OSHA would only allow you to stay for a limited time in a toxic environment until you need to take a break. And all the factories would give you a break by making you work somewhere else in a less toxic area than put you back into where you were before with the heaver toxic fumes. So essentially you never really got a break and they didn’t break OSHA’s standards.

[@Platinum1812]

That is a very interesting fact. The song originates from Britain and I'm sure they have an equivalent agency. While I assume their agency has a different name that the practices were the same. The song hits home because my Grandfather had emphysema likely from only a few months work in a paint factory after WWII. Giant, heated open vats being mixed and fumes everywhere. He realized after those months that nobody over 30 worked there even though they looked much, much older. "Every day you're here you're two days nearer death." He lost some days even though he made it to 90, his lungs failed and the doctors couldn't explain it. They said age, which sure yes partly true but still sooner than otherwise even though impossible we could ever prove it.

[@CyFr]

​@@Platinum1812heard it goes back to 1864 Ireland

[@jan-Sopija]

oh my god that's evil In an even worse ways and I thought it was

[@xenon8342]

​@@CyFrNope, the song was originally called the ICI song, written and performed for the first time in teesside

[@kaylas5461]

Not only is your voice amazing, but the kind of sad drone of that concertina in the background is just plain haunting. Amazing.

[@DavidCoffinMusic]

Thank you!

[@AFKKiyoshi]

We actually sing this in our waste water treatment here. And let me tell you, it can be very haunting. :)

[@TheTsarsTailor1910]

I’m not a chemical worker but I’ve worked in melted plastics in factories and as a welder in very poorly ventilated areas where the smoke and fumes would be a literal fog in the building where you can’t see the other wall. I always sing this under my breath. Me and the fellas at work always joke when the day is done we have a (company’s name) tan because when we wash our hands we loose a shade or two of dust and grit all over our skin and faces I always joke and say to some of them that they looked like they crawled out of a coal mine- and they always say you too man.

[@GhostRider659]

take care of yourselves, doesn't sound like an environment conducive to long-term health.

[@TheTsarsTailor1910]

@@GhostRider659 I’m happy I won’t be here much longer I have a safer and cleaner job lined up in a few months

[@robinhanson2076]

Oh yeah and that was your experience haha 😂 😂

[@robinhanson2076]

Instead of taking good care of yourself after work, you got busy laughing at everyone about how they look like 😁 😁

[@JohnRutherford205]

My grandfather was a process-man here in Texas. He saw some pretty terrible things working in the plants. Never told me half of it.

[@northernu.s.a3995]

I am a process engineer in a (very safe) pulp and paper mill, and even with high standards working with low hazard materials you see and hear crazy shit.

[@Xaevryn]

Oh crap! hey thanks for covering this. I'm a chemical worker as well (SL2/Specialist) and this song always hit home for me. There's time's i'm tied off, in my PAPR and chem suit in 110 degree heat trying to unclog a silo and the song just plays in the back of my head.

[@DavidCoffinMusic]

Be safe my friend.

[@mickbourne3028]

Used to work in steel making, had to wear full ppe to work in the Lime bunkers and above the 30m level in the BOS plant

[@Silasssssssss]

Last year when I worked in a steel mill where they processed carcinogen contaminated scrap (Cr6/Asbetos) I used to sing this under my full face respirator with forced induction. Probably for the best for the other workers. Caught fire a few times, got burns, nearly died. All sorts of fun things

[@samsadowitz1724]

This song is one of those that makes me honestly think that nothing has fundamentally changed. In a lot of warehouse/factory jobs around the US today seem to be filled with horror stories like this. It's sad and infuriating at the same time.

[@he471]

I get the feeling dude, I really do, but as someone who currently goes through this and has experienced most of this song a lot has changed. Now we have a LOT more safety measures than those before us and more pay.

[@samsadowitz1724]

@@he471 true, but then you hear about the conditions that led to the strike at the Frito Lay plant and at Amazon warehouses, and it makes you think that not much has changed since then aside from the ban on child labor, THANK GOD we still have that in place. It's just that a lot of corporations get away with too much abuse with little recourse. Hell, I almost cut my wrist open at work and nothing was done about it because it wasn't deep enough to hit an artery/vein.

[@he471]

@@samsadowitz1724 I can't really argue with factory conditions since that's not the trade I'm currently in. I've heard a lot from people who have and you're 100% right. The way they're run is deplorable, and makes me thankful I'm in the industrial plant trade.

[@samsadowitz1724]

@@he471 what kind of plant do you work in? Is it a type of chemical plant? I'm not in the manufacturing industry either, but I hear a lot of stories shared by reporters. My sector is grocery/retail and I'm in the meat department. So I see that mistreatment of crew members are rampant in major corporations.

[@he471]

@@samsadowitz1724 OH I was butcher once too! But at this moment I don't really know what exactly we produce in my current plant it's some type of film with gold on it for phones and motherboards. Aside from that I've been in natural gas refineries, chlorine plants, etc. I've almost died more times than I can count. Which is saying a lot; I can count pretty high.

[@slavicpilot679]

I love this rendition of the song. Rather than the super polished original this version sounds true to the story. Good work

[@samsadowitz1724]

Are you talking about the rendition done by Great Big Sea? If so, that's not the original. The original is actually sung by Ron Angel who is also the writer for this song. The original is done with a much slower tempo and sounds much more haunting. More like a lamenting ballad

[@willminner1041]

fantastic, as a chemical worker this made me smile.

[@ReallyTwistedHumor]

Management have learned to duck and cover if my shift come in humming this tune

[@victorkreig6089]

Was waiting to see you tackle some more land based work songs, such a haunting tale

[@nopenadanowaynohow]

worked plastics same thing. toxic work, toxic company attitude. Thank you for the song so well sung !

[@11bitstudios]

Great rendition of the song! Your video got our attention on a Reddit thread dedicated to one of our games, Frostpunk, which deals with an alternative steampunk version of the late XIXth century during an apocalyptic climate change that puts the whole world into arctic winter. Players have to choose how to go about mining for resources, coal extraction, engineering ways of survival, and first, and foremost, which choices will lead them where in terms of the newly built Society. We'd love to share this work of yours with our fanbase on our social media channels if you don't mind - the struggles seem very similar to those suffered by Citizens the Player is in charge of as a nominated Captain, and we love showcasing fellow artists to get our Community inspired. Have a great week ahead and thanks again for the song!

[@DavidCoffinMusic]

Thanks for the explanation of the game. Feel free to use the song. I assume it will be a hyperlink to the video on KZbin or embedded somewhere?

[@jaegergames7042]

Frostpunk (And especially the Last Autumn DLC) are absolutely amazing, and, possibly, the most immersive and stunning survival-city build game/content for a game, in that genre, that I've ever played. SimCity, Cities: Skylines, Prison Architect, Anno 1800, Banished, the lot of them- they're good, but they ain't Frostpunk. Keen for the sequel, Lads!!!!!

[@gabrielchapman2348]

Hearing this after I got my process technology degree is very reassuring 👍

[@matttravers153]

Crazy how this song is still true for so many today. Incredible rendition, man! Thanks for sharing

[@fencernerd]

There are several "higher production value" versions of this song up on KZbin. This one is still by far my favorite. It's the one version that really captures the spirit of the song.

[@WieldingEminator]

You and Seth Staton Watkins do a great job in covering this song in both of your individual unique ways! Perhaps a duet could be in order, someday?

[@galaxywanderer4608]

Great renditioning. Sung this song to myself a few times cleaning out diesel storage tanks over the summer...

[@rextheroyalist6389]

I work in a meat factory, in which we are expected to clean the floors at the end of every day. One day, due to shortage, they swapped our cleaning agent out for a much more potent version typically used to clean vehicles (at least that's what it was previously being used for in my factory). We didn't know that the new stuff was much stronger than the previous so we mixed in the same amount as we always did and started brushing and squeegeeing the floor with it, the whole time it felt like we were leaning over a pan of boiling vinegar, it hurt. Afterwards we were just leaving when my colleague turns to me and says "is it just me or is our breath fogging up more than usual?" (being in a refrigerated space, you can always see your breath a little). At first I thought she was just imagining it but then I noticed it and I spent a few minutes thinking about it when it hit me, our lungs were inflamed so we were breathing way hotter than normal. Only a trivial event compared to the kinds of things many others have to go through or hear in this song, but that brief encounter with workplace danger just got me thinking about how many bad things we subject our bodies to day-to-day. Glad I don't know what inhaling gypsum is like

[@jonathangoodwin5609]

I've heard this song so many times but I'm only now realizing how dark the lyrics are.

[@DanHoelck]

If you're taking requests, I'd love to hear your rendition of Whiskey in the Jar.

[@DavidCoffinMusic]

Great suggestion!

[@HailHydra27]

I know "they'll time your every breath" is about measuring your exposure to dangerous chemicals, but when you run a machine thats constantly tracking how fast you're working and comparing you to the almighty KPI it still feels relevant to me

[@427Arbok]

Spent nearly 3 years working in a chemical plant, about as much as I could justify. Lucky we were an open-air plant, and we mostly ethoxylated alcohols and amines, but even if the fumes wouldn't give ya cancer (that we knew, at least), that didn't make them any less pungent. Can't say the exposure was too bad, but we had real lethal shit in the back, and equipment maintenance was so bad that the whole place felt like a time-bomb. Hopefully not in the literal sense, as I still drive past it on the daily, but who knows.

[@widgetfilms]

Great Big Sea was my middle school favorite band. Thank you David!

[@thebeef3431]

This song is hauntingly beautiful, echoing about the hazards of a workplace. Love this cover, been listening to this on occasion while on shift at a less hazardous workplace.

[@thecpmr6276]

I only am beginning to realize now that I'm a welder just how important it is to take care of your lungs. It wasn't even remotely taught to me that you should wear a breathing mask. Stay safe, fellas. Don't be self-conscious. It's uncomfortable, but so is being a welder, so wear a breather.

[@seahorsemafia]

Amazing rendition. Solidarity from the mill✌🏼

[@Mr.Ambrose_Dyer_Armitage_Esq.]

Reminds me of a story by a guy in our congregation that worked as a chemical truck driver. I can't recall the exact fluid they were pumping into the tank--maybe it was concentrated fluoride but, I don't know--and a new kid on the job came in late and was thrust over to the docks without putting on his hazmat suit. He ended up detaching the line before the valve was shut and whatever was in him sprayed all over him. Don't know what he was thinking but, he just changed his shirt and went off to drive the truck. Anyway, his bones dissolved.

[@tsgillespiejr]

This is the first rendition of this song I ever heard. And, not for lack of trying, I still haven't heard one better! Your voice is, for lack of a better word, special!

[@emilyelizabeth3577]

this song makes me want more unions

[@lyndamiller453]

Just discovered you through The North Water,about an hour ago. I'm now a mega-fan! Great rendition of this song. Hope your big moment is about to happen, because anyone who hears Roll the Old Chariot Away is going to freaking love it!!

[@DavidCoffinMusic]

Have you seen Blow the Man Down on Amazon Prime?

[@lyndamiller453]

@@DavidCoffinMusic I started it once and wasn't able to finish watching it, then forgot about it. Going to go find it now!

[@cameronmcgrath8592]

Spent a year and a half as a welder, I’ve had no worse experience than getting sick with welders cough and feeling my right hand hand clench up at the end of day. This song hits hard

[@theslavicharuspex]

I work as a process operator in a plastics plant and as sad as the song is, it gives me a sense of pride listening to it as a process man myself

[@TheVellar]

David, its surprising but i heard your song in yandex music which is Russian. Im fluent english speaker and your voice sir, lyrics and performance is fantastic. Bring me chills.

[@DavidCoffinMusic]

Thank you

[@patrickoxley581]

This is the voice that should have been featured. Stellar vocals!

[@Kruxxen35]

The way you sing the word cyanide is haunting and beautiful. Well that's the whole song, but that word hits so hard.

[@herpderp728]

I feel like we have a similar-ish vocal range, so I absolutely fucking love singing along with you. Your songs helped me first understand how to hit notes, and sometimes on occasion I can even achieve resonance with your voice.

[@birky0191]

I love your voice and how it has the somber tone as if the person singing has expierenced this first hand

[@TheKaryo]

still like coming back to this every now and then :)

[@bohemianprince7944]

You have some of my favorite renditions. This and tree song and Valhalla calling. Beautiful work

[@toxictoucan2257]

Love it. I love finding these shanties, even if they're sad

[@TheChipmunk2008]

Absolutely haunting, got suggested this from a youtube livestream re: attitudes to chemical safety in the 50s/60s (shoutout to franlab)

[@jubejubesa8777]

Excellent performance, love your other covers too!

[@dimosthenis76]

Think I smell the fumes of this place! Mr. David, thank you so much. I love this song!

[@KC777shadow7]

David I've been following your work for a couple years now. Always enjoying the songs you perform. Would you be willing to comment what melody notes your playing on your concertina?

[@DavidCoffinMusic]

Hi Kyle. I’m not really playing the melody though it may sound that way at times. Aside from the obvious drones on the verses I’m primarily adding chords (I love parallel 5ths) and invariably there’ll be a note or two that follows the melody since the melody notes are often in the chord structure. I generally don’t like to double the melody.

[@petehanneman9179]

Was a chemical operator for 8 years and you nailed it!!!! Love it !

[@TheKaryo]

Great cover of one of my favourite songs great job

[@Deus_Divinitus]

Fantastic voice and accordion work

[@DavidCoffinMusic]

Thank you. Concertina though, not an accordion. It's waaaay better, says the concertina player.

[@AlexJade]

Love this. You come off as the man that put in his 40 and singing to the new guys coming in warning them of what to expect.

[@OneInTheMosh]

The sad thing is I bet those who actually had such a hellish career in this field wouldn't be able to sing like this anymore

[@Patrick-it8nk]

Found this in my recommended videos after watching (more listenin to) Colm McGuinness' rendition and I gotta say this one definitely got to me. Song's so good and just downright haunting at the same time, and having done research both academically and personally on working conditions over the centuries its only more haunting.

[@kellywilliam3708]

This was fantastic, thank you

[@wellhellothereitllbefun4901]

Goodness you did it perfectly! I never thought I would say this but thank God for TikTok cause without it. I would've missed this cover.

[@sveamoomin2987]

I really really love this song.. and your music.. cuz.. my grandpa would have really loved your music.. as he loved shanties.. even if he didn't understand them, as he only spoke german.. Also.. you kinda have the same hair do as he.. which made me tear up a bit, when I realised. Sadly he passed in 2012 :'< And I still miss him dearly.. but your music reminds me of how he and I would dance through his living room while listening to his CD with old germa shanties.. sooo any chance you might one day make your version of De Hamborger Veermaster or Blaue Jungs von der Waterkant? I would really really love that!

[@TheRealBoroNut]

The irony of this song is that ICI was a massive benign and farsighted employer beloved by its workers, and we miss her. It was fully committed to its workers welfare and understood that it was not a chemical behemoth, but the sum total of its workers, on whom its very existence depended.

[@924alana]

This song was just waiting for you to sing it. It was made for you.

[@jamesmanger4392]

Holy smokes this is awesome! What a fantastic cover!

[@DavidCoffinMusic]

Glad you like it!

[@snajperbartek69]

Amazing! great voice!!

[@Peleg50]

oh wow, your voice is amazing! so glad I got suggested this video!

[@TheSkyRim85]

Hey David! I absolutely love this song. I was looking to arrange it for Men’s Choir. Do you know who the copyright holder is for this piece? I couldn’t find anything about it. Thank you!

[@DavidCoffinMusic]

It was written by Ron Angel in 1964 but that’s over the 50 year mark. And yet I was muted for a copyright “violation” on TikTok with no information given. Let me know how you do. Cheers.

[@sirpuffball6366]

Your singing voice is absolutely phenomenal

[@TheVaultDescendant]

Super happy to see this one! I found it during quarantine and was super excited to see you cover it! Will you post this one to Spotify? (I have no idea how much of a process it is, but id love to be able to add this to my folk playlist) If you are taking requests I'd love to hear you cover Molasses (Schooner Fare) that I also found during this time.

[@squidlipssupreme168]

I found you on tik Tok and you're awesome!

[@DavidCoffinMusic]

Thank you so much!!

[@kristaberck6821]

Wonderful voice. This was my first time hearing you and i notice youre taking suggestions. How about Slaid Cleaves - Breakfast in Hell?

[@SolasLupum]

Damn, what a rendition. I got chills

[@TheRodanid]

Many thanks from two process man !

[@francesgoethe5816]

I think I only love this song from his voice, plus with the new and nice song it's beautiful

[@elidisco]

Goosebumps!

[@tsylvester2523]

I would absolutely love to hear your take on Jim Jones at Botany Bay

[@gewuerzgurkeev]

I first heard of this song years ago when I started studying chemistry at university and thought that time was long gone by But now that I am in the last months of my PhD this song has two meanings for me: 1) despite all safety precautions, you are still dreanched in cyanides, work with potent carcinogens and unimaginable toxic substances - but at least you are trained to work with those safely, we learned a lot about that, but.... 2) in my years of aproaching a PhD, it is not the chemicals that take my breath. Every breath of mine is in fact being timed And every day I am actually two days nearer death - but it is more the psychological stress that is enforced on you and that should not be ignored

[@davmatt941]

Tremendous voice!

[@Mr.krabz2182]

Perfect, honestly so so beautiful

[@chrischenhoffmann9988]

Great song! Will you release it on Spotify?

[@DavidCoffinMusic]

Just hit Spotify and all streaming platforms today.

[@chrischenhoffmann9988]

@@DavidCoffinMusic The song is now playing nonstop in my Spotify Playlist. Thanks a lot!

[@Shanham617]

Wow well done

[@JonathanBoies]

So great!

[@tylerbaum4236]

Hey very well done sir.

[@dustinstammen3318]

Would always sing this song this when I worked in web pressure seal printing.

[@pedrogabrielribeiro8857]

This not being a Breaking Bad open is just a crime.

[@DrunkenDemon]

Tweak the Lyrics a bit and you get a foundry workers song :(. Awesome Performance but this one makes me really sad.

[@samsadowitz1724]

Hell, tweak the lyrics a bit and you get an Amazon worker's song. The more you learn about the history of industry, the more you realize that nothing has fundamentally changed

[@traceyculyer5811]

Stunning but full of very sad history.

[@coldkiller6328]

Wonderful, your voice is great.

[@sfednoslav]

What an awesome voice! Greetings from Ukraine

[@OneInTheMosh]

Hope you're doing okay over there. Well wishes from Canada

[@jacobbandock8732]

Just amazing.

[@Schmuddel]

This song is a perfect fit for you.

[@edwarrodriguez8773]

👏 👏 Bárbaro David!!!!

[@lincolngunning1733]

Brings a proud undivided feeling of lement

[@Legoman842]

As a young man in the chemical field. This is true.

[@SgtxAnus]

can you do the misty mountain cold?

[@DavidCoffinMusic]

vm.tiktok.com/ZMRvTkxcT/

[@SgtxAnus]

@@DavidCoffinMusic nah nah nah do a full cover that would be perfect no one has ever done Tolkien's full lyrics which is like on par with the Epic of Gilgamesh in scale of grandness. Especially since the whole thing is only a small portion of the text its super impactful.

[@mickbourne3028]

This song is about the ICI in my neck of the woods,

[@kimballcoffin1689]

True to the name, sir.

[@MerryMary2614]

Wow. Powerful song.😮

[@porkypuff5884]

reminds me of stan rogers

[@jonathanshapiro8047]

Can you do (ghost) riders in the sky?

[@brynn2653]

Крутая песня!❤️❤️

[@RuralTowner]

Having a hoarse voice from a throat made raw from breathing powdery desert dust makes me want to sing along if it didn't make it bleed.

[@kevinprice5813]

Love sir

[@Shirar2000]

Oh. My. GOD. YES!! This man's amazing voice and the lyrics this song made me cry. We HAVE to fight while we have some momentum! Kudos to those who have QUIT their hellish jobs. Now to arrange a GENERAL NATIONWIDE STRIKE!!

[@sparkymmilarky]

Amazing.

[@DavidCoffinMusic]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@deper7605]

dude this is cool

[@Malle472]

Well, that was uplifting.