#02514
We Are Coming, Mr. Coaker (Traditional) lyrics, chords & MIDI
See also: Coaker's Dream (Collected by MacEdward Leach)
midi file alt : midi file

Click Here for guitar tabs.

We are coming, Mr. Coaker, from the East, West, North and South;
You have called us and we're coming, for to put our foes to rout.
By merchants and by governments, too long we've been misruled;
We're determined now in future, and no longer we'll be fooled.
We'll be brothers all and free men, we'll be brothers all and free men,
We'll be brothers all and free men, and we'll rightify each wrong;
We are coming, Mr. Coaker, we are coming, Mr. Coaker,
We are coming, Mr. Coaker, and we're forty thousand strong.

We are coming, Mr. Coaker, men from Green Bay's rocky shore,
Men who stand the snow-white billows down on stormy Labrador.
We are ready and awaiting, strong and solid, firm and bold,
To be led by you like Moses led the Israelites of old.
We are ready for to sever, we are ready for to sever,
We are ready for to sever, from the merchants' servile throng;
We are coming, Mr. Coaker, we are coming, Mr. Coaker,
We are coming, Mr. Coaker, and we're forty thousand strong.

We are coming, Mr. Coaker, blood of Saxon and of Celt,
You arouse a feeling in us, that before we never felt;
Valiant men from far Placentia, who the angry oceans brave,
They are with you heart and spirit, breasting Cape St. Mary's waves.
They are with the fight for freedom, they are with the fight for freedom,
They are with the fight for freedom, and the Union is their song;
We are coming, Mr. Coaker, we are coming, Mr. Coaker,
We are coming, Mr. Coaker, and we're forty thousand strong.

We're still people, Mr. Coaker, with a spirit strong and true;
We will follow in your footsteps, and we know just what to do.
We'll rebuild the town you dreamed of, and we will not back away;
For we're looking to our future, that began just yesterday.
Will we perish? We'll say NEVER! Will we perish? We'll say NEVER!
Will we perish? We'll say NEVER! Port Union's here to stay;
We are coming, Mr. Coaker, we are coming, Mr. Coaker,
We are coming, Mr. Coaker, and we're forty thousand strong.

####.... Author unknown. Traditional Newfoundland song. See notes below ....####
Contributed by Ms. Edith Samson of the Coaker Foundation at Port Union, NL, through Bob the Postman of the Mudcat Café. Bob further commented he is convinced that the last verse is not original to the song but was added in the 1990s when Port Union was being brushed up to be a heritage site. Q, also of the Mudcat Café, identified the source of the tune as the American Civil War song We Are Coming, Father Abraham, Three Hundred Thousand More, a call to arms written in 1862 by James Sloan Gibbons, a Northern Abolitionist Quaker, with music by Luther Orlando Emerson.

Note: Sir William Ford Coaker [1871-1938] was a Newfoundland union leader and politician. Born in St. John's, Newfoundland, he founded the Fishermen's Protective Union (FPU) in Herring Neck, Newfoundland, as well as the town of Port Union. In 1923, he was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire for his work with fishermen.

The Sir William Ford Coaker Heritage Foundation Inc. is a not for profit organization which was established in 1995 to preserve and develop Port Union's historic district. Port Union is Canada's only union-built town and was created in 1916 by the Fishermen's Protective Union (FPU) and its first leader, William Ford Coaker. Port Union became the centre of the FPU's business, which included the Fishermen's Union Trading Company, a weekly newspaper called the Fishermen's Advocate, a retail store that served 40 outlets in other communities, a salt-fish plant with electric dryers and many other businesses and amenities.

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Notes On Guitar Tabs:
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All guitar tabs have been contributed by visitors to this site and represent their interpretation of the tune. We are unable to verify their accuracy.

We are [G] coming, Mr. Coaker, from the East, West, North and [D] South;
You have called us and we're [C] coming, for to [D] put our foes to [G] rout.
By [G] merchants and by governments, too long we've been mis-[D] ruled;
We're determined now in [C] future, and no [D] longer we'll be [G] fooled.
We'll be [D] brothers all and [G] free men, we'll be [A] brothers all and [D] free men,
We'll be [G] brothers all and [C] free men, and we'll [D] rightify each [G] wrong;
We are [G] coming, Mr. [C] Coaker, we are [G] coming, Mr. [D] Coaker,
We are [G] coming, Mr. [C] Coaker, and we're [D] forty thousand [G] strong.

~ Chords contributed by Bob the Postman ~





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