Cold and Dark

Wayne Webster

Cold and Dark (Part One of the Goldenbridge Orphan Trilogy)

From the mid-1920s until the early 1970s thousands of Irish children officially in the care of the state were subjected to a double regime of sexual abuse and wageless slavery. Ireland’s notorious industrial schools and orphanages – all run by Catholic orders – were home to boys and girls who had been officially declared criminals by the courts. – Henry McDonald, Ireland Correspondent
The Guardian, Wednesday 20 May 2009

At Goldenbridge many complainants spoke of the ordeal of being sent to the landing for punishment. Children who had done something that the staff deemed to be wrong were told they were to be punished that evening. They had to line up on the landing at bedtime, after they had changed into their nightclothes, and wait to be beaten. The landing was cold and dark… – Report of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (20th May 2009)

It’s cold and dark in this place where we lie
Cold–––– and dark———
Nowhere a light, not a star in the sky
Cold–––– and dark———

We have no mother, no sister or brother
Only a Father way up in the sky
And if we just obey, in His graces we’ll stay
And be Angels of Light when we die

But it’s cold and dark in this place where we lie
Cold–––– and dark———
Nowhere a light, not a star in the sky
Cold–––– and dark———

Do what they say
Or they’ll put you away where it’s
Cold–––– and dark———
So we ran away
And now hide out by day where it’s
Cold–––– and dark–––––

It’s cold and dark in this place where we lie
Cold–––– and dark———
Nowhere a light, not a star in the sky
Cold–––– and dark———

We have no mother, no sister or brother
Only a Father way up in the sky
And if we just obey, in His graces we’ll stay
And be Angels of Light when we die

But it’s cold and dark in this place where we lie
Cold–––– and dark———
Nowhere a light, not a star in the sky
Cold–––– and dark———

It’s cold and dark in this place where we lie
Cold–––– and dark———
Nowhere a light, not a star in the sky
Cold–––– and dark———

Cold–––– and dark––––
Cold–––– and dark———
Cold–––– and dark———

Chords available at: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DNmh2NWXkyWdAkcbvzW0iaRRGymcf3j7/view?usp=drivesdk