In this poem/rap I wrote a few years ago, the 'canaries in the coal mine' are analogous to the hemophiliacs who received blood products and therefore, blood-borne diseases, in advance of the general population.
In the old days, miners in coal mines used to bring down canaries in cages to detect any gas build up since the canaries were particularly sensitive to methane and carbon monoxide. In other words, the canaries would be brought down into the mines because they were known to exhibit signs of illness before the miners. If the canaries kept singing, it meant the air in the mine was safe. However, if the canaries stopped singing, it meant the miners should evacuate.
The title "Sick" refers to the system that allowed tainted blood in and it also refers to the health status of those affected by that system, such as the hemophiliacs and other blood product recipients.
"Sick"
I am sick of people dying
And of families always crying
Cause of other people’s lying
Who will own up?
Be a grown up?
Finally man enough?
Who will go to jail?
Tell the truthful tale
Ain't got enough bail
When a sister stops the IV
To try to set her brother “free”
I know it still bothers me
Another fun-er-al
A service full of bull
A swap of corpse for soul
“Dying with Dignity”
Seems like a joke to me
Mine-bound eternally
3-D kin become 2-D kin
Never again this sufferin’
Cut short a song about to begin
Ultimate breach of trust
The methane did combust
Another one bites the dust
Canary in the mine
Injected full of slime
Cut short before its time
The story starts with precious red
Ends with too many people dead
Empty cage, white sheets on the bed
The miners got away
Canaries just betrayed
Below the shaft they stayed
Widows walk alone
Pulses turned to stone
Blood unwholesome
“Safest in the World” they said
Before they put the birds to bed
Still they sew their usual thread
We’ve got nothin’ to loose
We already sing the blues
Cuz ones have now replaced twos
Lawyers wasting time
Running from the crime
Justice past its prime
Always facing pain and tears
Family members disappear
Death is always hoverin’ near
You still do what you do
As if no one knew
The real meaning of truth
How many souls have gone?
Prematurely withdrawn
‘Cause of what you did wrong!
Empty court seats filled with ghosts
Each of them: a lethal dose
Watching trials that seem like jokes
Heartless troops still march on
As if nothing’s gone wrong
Ever the same, sick, sad song
A gassed-out coalmine now gone rotten
A lifeless bird lies at the bottom
An abandoned canary just forgotten
In the old days, miners in coal mines used to bring down canaries in cages to detect any gas build up since the canaries were particularly sensitive to methane and carbon monoxide. In other words, the canaries would be brought down into the mines because they were known to exhibit signs of illness before the miners. If the canaries kept singing, it meant the air in the mine was safe. However, if the canaries stopped singing, it meant the miners should evacuate.
The title "Sick" refers to the system that allowed tainted blood in and it also refers to the health status of those affected by that system, such as the hemophiliacs and other blood product recipients.
"Sick"
I am sick of people dying
And of families always crying
Cause of other people’s lying
Who will own up?
Be a grown up?
Finally man enough?
Who will go to jail?
Tell the truthful tale
Ain't got enough bail
When a sister stops the IV
To try to set her brother “free”
I know it still bothers me
Another fun-er-al
A service full of bull
A swap of corpse for soul
“Dying with Dignity”
Seems like a joke to me
Mine-bound eternally
3-D kin become 2-D kin
Never again this sufferin’
Cut short a song about to begin
Ultimate breach of trust
The methane did combust
Another one bites the dust
Canary in the mine
Injected full of slime
Cut short before its time
The story starts with precious red
Ends with too many people dead
Empty cage, white sheets on the bed
The miners got away
Canaries just betrayed
Below the shaft they stayed
Widows walk alone
Pulses turned to stone
Blood unwholesome
“Safest in the World” they said
Before they put the birds to bed
Still they sew their usual thread
We’ve got nothin’ to loose
We already sing the blues
Cuz ones have now replaced twos
Lawyers wasting time
Running from the crime
Justice past its prime
Always facing pain and tears
Family members disappear
Death is always hoverin’ near
You still do what you do
As if no one knew
The real meaning of truth
How many souls have gone?
Prematurely withdrawn
‘Cause of what you did wrong!
Empty court seats filled with ghosts
Each of them: a lethal dose
Watching trials that seem like jokes
Heartless troops still march on
As if nothing’s gone wrong
Ever the same, sick, sad song
A gassed-out coalmine now gone rotten
A lifeless bird lies at the bottom
An abandoned canary just forgotten
