Cockle Pickers

歌詞

(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