Song | Cockle Pickers |
Artist | Momus |
Album | Otto Spooky |
作词 : Currie | |
(NARRATOR) - Yu Hui came from Yangbian, a village in the north of Fujian, opposite Taiwan | |
Government requisitions left him with just one mu of land | |
Not enough to pay for his family's outgoings | |
It was humiliating | |
Yu Hui thought of emigrating | |
(YU HUI) - A man working in a bakery in Britain | |
Can send enough money home | |
To build a big six storey mansion in Yangbian | |
Abroad I could save each month | |
More than I make here in a year | |
(NARRATOR) - And so Yu Hui made a deal with the Snakehead Gang | |
(NARRATOR & YU HUI) - The wind is strong, the tide is high | |
In darkness no-one can see the sky | |
(NARRATOR) - On a forged Korean passport Yu Hui flew from Hong Kong to Europe | |
He dyed his hair to better resemble the man in the picture | |
In Paris he tried to find work, but failed | |
An illegal Chinese with no skills | |
(YU HUI) - I went sightseeing, called my family | |
Told them to pay the snakeheads £7,000 | |
This they did, with the help of loans | |
Secured by relatives and friends | |
(NARRATOR) - In England Yu Hui thought he would have better luck, a chance to earn more money | |
He came stowed away in a lorry | |
Through the channel tunnel | |
(YU HUI) - I heard that some who do this suffocate | |
I was afraid | |
It was hot in the truck | |
I ate a bar of chocolate | |
(NARRATOR) - In London he worked in the kitchen of a takeaway | |
The boss was hard, and the chef, although from Yu Hui's own village | |
Required £200 to give him the job | |
(YU HUI) - I slept on a mattress I found on the street | |
Lived with four others above a takeaway | |
Had to distribute five hundred leaflets every day | |
Then work eight to ten hours in the kitchen | |
For two meals, and low pay | |
(NARRATOR) - When he heard about the cockling work up north | |
Yu Hui assumed it could not be worse than life in London | |
He packed a case and went to Morecambe Bay | |
(YU HUI) - This work is very hard | |
It is cold and hurts my back | |
I live in a room with forty others, we eat only rice | |
I am depressed | |
I want to quit, but because I'm illegal | |
I have no freedom and no choice | |
(NARRATOR) - Five different Chinese teams, all under the control of a gangmaster | |
Work different sections of the bay | |
They work according to the tides, sometimes by day | |
But mostly at night | |
In groups of twenty to thirty | |
(YU HUI) - The English cockling teams felt threatened | |
Because we sieve the tiddlers out, clean our cockles better | |
They poured diesel on our catch to warn us | |
They hate us because we are foreigners | |
So now we work at night, although it is much more dangerous | |
(NARRATOR) - They lay the wooden planks on the sand | |
And shake them to bring the cockles to the surface | |
Harvest them with rakes, clean them up, and drop them in a sack | |
(NARRATOR & YU HUI) - The wind is strong, the tide is high | |
In darkness no-one can see the sea | |
(YU HUI) - And we knew that the tide was rising | |
Only when it touched our feet | |
By that time our only escape was blocked | |
(YU HUI) - If I die, who will pay off the Snakeheads? | |
My family will drown in endless tears | |
They cannot pay, not in fifty years | |
(NARRATOR) - The hovercraft sent by the lifeguard was beaten back by two metre waves | |
Twenty bodies were recovered, only one was saved, clinging to Priest Skier | |
It was not Yu Hui | |
(NARRATOR & YU HUI) - The wind is strong, the tide is high | |
In darkness |
zuò cí : Currie | |
NARRATOR Yu Hui came from Yangbian, a village in the north of Fujian, opposite Taiwan | |
Government requisitions left him with just one mu of land | |
Not enough to pay for his family' s outgoings | |
It was humiliating | |
Yu Hui thought of emigrating | |
YU HUI A man working in a bakery in Britain | |
Can send enough money home | |
To build a big six storey mansion in Yangbian | |
Abroad I could save each month | |
More than I make here in a year | |
NARRATOR And so Yu Hui made a deal with the Snakehead Gang | |
NARRATOR YU HUI The wind is strong, the tide is high | |
In darkness noone can see the sky | |
NARRATOR On a forged Korean passport Yu Hui flew from Hong Kong to Europe | |
He dyed his hair to better resemble the man in the picture | |
In Paris he tried to find work, but failed | |
An illegal Chinese with no skills | |
YU HUI I went sightseeing, called my family | |
Told them to pay the snakeheads 7, 000 | |
This they did, with the help of loans | |
Secured by relatives and friends | |
NARRATOR In England Yu Hui thought he would have better luck, a chance to earn more money | |
He came stowed away in a lorry | |
Through the channel tunnel | |
YU HUI I heard that some who do this suffocate | |
I was afraid | |
It was hot in the truck | |
I ate a bar of chocolate | |
NARRATOR In London he worked in the kitchen of a takeaway | |
The boss was hard, and the chef, although from Yu Hui' s own village | |
Required 200 to give him the job | |
YU HUI I slept on a mattress I found on the street | |
Lived with four others above a takeaway | |
Had to distribute five hundred leaflets every day | |
Then work eight to ten hours in the kitchen | |
For two meals, and low pay | |
NARRATOR When he heard about the cockling work up north | |
Yu Hui assumed it could not be worse than life in London | |
He packed a case and went to Morecambe Bay | |
YU HUI This work is very hard | |
It is cold and hurts my back | |
I live in a room with forty others, we eat only rice | |
I am depressed | |
I want to quit, but because I' m illegal | |
I have no freedom and no choice | |
NARRATOR Five different Chinese teams, all under the control of a gangmaster | |
Work different sections of the bay | |
They work according to the tides, sometimes by day | |
But mostly at night | |
In groups of twenty to thirty | |
YU HUI The English cockling teams felt threatened | |
Because we sieve the tiddlers out, clean our cockles better | |
They poured diesel on our catch to warn us | |
They hate us because we are foreigners | |
So now we work at night, although it is much more dangerous | |
NARRATOR They lay the wooden planks on the sand | |
And shake them to bring the cockles to the surface | |
Harvest them with rakes, clean them up, and drop them in a sack | |
NARRATOR YU HUI The wind is strong, the tide is high | |
In darkness noone can see the sea | |
YU HUI And we knew that the tide was rising | |
Only when it touched our feet | |
By that time our only escape was blocked | |
YU HUI If I die, who will pay off the Snakeheads? | |
My family will drown in endless tears | |
They cannot pay, not in fifty years | |
NARRATOR The hovercraft sent by the lifeguard was beaten back by two metre waves | |
Twenty bodies were recovered, only one was saved, clinging to Priest Skier | |
It was not Yu Hui | |
NARRATOR YU HUI The wind is strong, the tide is high | |
In darkness |