Bee Gees - new york mining disaster nineteen forty-one, 1967

"Barry and Robin Gibb wrote "New York Mining Disaster" while sitting in a darkened stairway at Polydor Records following a power outage. The song recounts the story of a miner trapped in a cave-in. He is sharing a photo of his wife with a colleague ("Mr. Jones") while they hopelessly wait to be rescued. According to the liner notes for the box set Tales from the Brothers Gibb (1990), the song was inspired by the October 1966 Aberfan disaster in Wales. According to Robin, there actually had been a mining disaster in New York in 1939, but not in 1941, and he thought "New York" sounded more "glamorous". In the second and third verses, the narrative becomes slower and slower, as if to indicate that life is about to end for the miners. On the second chorus, the drums get louder. On the second verse, when Robin sings the line "I keep straining my ears to hear a sound," a violin is heard in response."