Gandy Dancers were railroad track maintenance workers who moved metal with music. One of their most important tools in the un-ending quest to keep the tracks supported and aligned, was a colorful repertoire of call-and-response work songs that are the very basis of the Blues.
Pick an' shovel...huh,
am so heavy...huh,
Heavy as lead...huh,
heavy as lead...huh
Pickin', shov'lin'...huh
pickin', shov'lin'...huh
Till I'm dead...huh
till I'm dead...
Work songs have always eased the pain of hard labor, but in the case of railroad work, and as in sea shanties, the rhythm of the song was vital to the execution of the task at hand. One man with a lever can't move a railroad track, but five men all levering at the same instant can. The easiest way to get all the power at the same time was with a song rhythm.
Gandy Dancers had several jobs on the track. They replaced rotten cross ties and replaced and tamped down gravel between ties. Their most coordinated task was rail alignment. Tracks would shift slightly after a certain amount of traffic. If not aligned, derailment, and disaster could occur. Aligning track was a difficult task because of the great weight of the track and timing needed to move it. To coordinate this effort, a crew leader was needed who could recognize the alignment needed, instruct the crew, in verse, what needed to be done, all the while inspiring the crew as much as any preacher. The verses could also relay messages that the foreman couldn't understand.
The origin of the term Gandy Dancer is uncertain. There are several references to the Gandy Manufacturing Company in Chicago as a maker of railroad tools at the turn of the century. But there seems to be no proof this company ever existed. Dancer probably comes from the physical movement that resulted in using these tools.
When you hear that...huh
'Lantic Coast Line...huh
Somebody's flyin'...huh
somebody's flyin'..huh
When you see that..huh
Seaboard Air Line..huh
She's a baby-mine..huh
she's a baby-mine...
With the advent of modern railroad maintenance equipment, the Gandy Dancer was pretty much obsolete by the 1960's. With them went the life force of these work songs.
