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Quiz about Tragedy in Songs Part 3 Coal Miners

Tragedy in Songs, Part 3: Coal Miners Quiz

Ever hear a cheerful song about mining? Can you identify these songs about mine collapses, black lung, and environmental damage?

A multiple-choice quiz by czolgolz. Estimated time: 5 mins.

Author
czolgolz

Time
5 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
190,382

Updated
Jul 23 22

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Tough

Avg Score
5 / 10

Plays
1203

Awards
Top 35% Quiz

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. Let's start with a classic. Tennessee Ernie Ford says he has one fist of iron and another of steel in this ballad for people with low-paying, thankless jobs. What song is this? Hint

Workin' Man Blues

Take this Job and Shove It

Sixteen Tons

Forty Hour Week

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Question 2 of 10

2. The singer talks about the beautiful town his parents grew up in, before it was destroyed by Peabody Coal. Can you name the town and the song? Hint

Spring Hill (Tennesee)

Homestead (Arkansas)

Ross Corners (West Virginia)

Paradise (Kentucky)

NEXT>

Question 3 of 10

3. Jimmy Dean sings about this unpopular miner who saves twenty lives during a collapse. Can you name this song? Hint

Loosiana Bamma

Rocky Racoon

Timothy

Big Bad John

NEXT>

Question 4 of 10

4. This is another song by Merle Travis, who apparently had a thing about mining. How does he describe it down in the mines? Hint

Dank as Death

Dark as a Dungeon

Dank and Despressing

Dangerous and Deadly

NEXT>

Question 5 of 10

5. 'Timothy,' by the Buoys, deals with some miners trapped in a cave-in. What do the other miners do to poor Timothy? Hint

They strangle him to conserve oxygen

They eat him

They throw him down a shaft to test its depth

They leave him crippled and dying in the dark

NEXT>

Question 6 of 10

6. Billy Edd Wheeler wrote a folk song about an odd condition he developed in the mines. What does he call it? Hint

Black Blood

Mine Blindness

Coal Miner's Lung

Coal Tattoo

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Question 7 of 10

7. Peggy Seeger wrote a song about twelve Canadian miners who survived for eight days trapped in a (guess what?) mine collapse. Can you name this song? Hint

Paradise

Ballad of Springhill

Living Grave

Living on Song and Hope

NEXT>

Question 8 of 10

8. The song 'New York Mining Disaster 1941' tells the depressing tale of some miners trapped in a cave-in. Who recorded it? Hint

Woody Guthrie

Bob Dylan

Pete Seeger

The BeeGees

NEXT>

Question 9 of 10

9. Who recorded the song 'Working in the Coal Mine?' Hint

Hank Williams

Sam the Sham

Wynona Judd

Lee Dorsey

10. As usual, we'll end on an upbeat note. It seems most folk songs deal with mine disasters or train wrecks. The 2003 movie 'A Mighty Wind' goes one step further, and has a song about a train wreck in a coal mine. What's the name of this farcical song? Hint

Blood in the Mine

Blood on the Tracks

Blood on the Coal

Blood on the Rails

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Let's start with a classic. Tennessee Ernie Ford says he has one fist of iron and another of steel in this ballad for people with low-paying, thankless jobs. What song is this?

Answer: Sixteen Tons

Written by Merle Travis, 1947. 'I owe my soul to the company store...'

2. The singer talks about the beautiful town his parents grew up in, before it was destroyed by Peabody Coal. Can you name the town and the song?

Answer: Paradise (Kentucky)

Written by John Prine, 1971. You can hear this song in the forgettable Steven Seagal movie 'On Deadly Ground.' Spring Hill, TN, is where they build Saturns.

3. Jimmy Dean sings about this unpopular miner who saves twenty lives during a collapse. Can you name this song?

Answer: Big Bad John

John holds a collapsing timber while the other miners escape, only to be crushed himself before they can get him out. This song hit number one in 1961.

4. This is another song by Merle Travis, who apparently had a thing about mining. How does he describe it down in the mines?

Answer: Dark as a Dungeon

'It's dark as a dungeon way down in the mines.' 1947.

5. 'Timothy,' by the Buoys, deals with some miners trapped in a cave-in. What do the other miners do to poor Timothy?

Answer: They eat him

You wonder how songs like this become hits. So far as I know, this is the only popular song about cannibalism.

6. Billy Edd Wheeler wrote a folk song about an odd condition he developed in the mines. What does he call it?

Answer: Coal Tattoo

His veins turned blue from coal dust, making it look like he had a weird tattoo on the side of his head. Coal mining is bad for one's health, in case you'd not guessed. The scientific name for black lung disease is pneaumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoiosis.

7. Peggy Seeger wrote a song about twelve Canadian miners who survived for eight days trapped in a (guess what?) mine collapse. Can you name this song?

Answer: Ballad of Springhill

1961. Most of the men are rescued at the end.

8. The song 'New York Mining Disaster 1941' tells the depressing tale of some miners trapped in a cave-in. Who recorded it?

Answer: The BeeGees

I'll spare you the obvious 'Stayin' Alive' joke.

9. Who recorded the song 'Working in the Coal Mine?'

Answer: Lee Dorsey

Later recorded by Devo and the Judds.

Answer: Blood on the Coal

'Blood on the tracks/blood in the mine/brothers and sisters what a terrible time/ Old 97 went in the wrong hole/here in Mine #60 there's blood on the coal.' The movie was a parody of folk singers.

Much of this information came from 'Rise up singing,' 1992. Thanks for playing.

Source: Author czolgolz

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Dalgleish before going online.
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