New York Mining Disaster 1941 (Have You Seen My Wife, Mr. Jones) by Bee Gees

Album: Bee Gees' 1st (1967)

Charted: 12 14

License This Song

lyrics

artistfacts

Songfacts®:

This song is about a group of miners trapped beneath the surface. The story is told from the perspective of one of them, who shows others a photo of his wife in what are likely his final hours.

Is a very dark song, but it was the Bee Gees' first hit outside of Australia, which they had recently left for England. Later in 1967, they had another hit with a song titled for a place in America: "Massachusetts."
There was no mining disaster in New York in 1941, although there was one in McIntire, Pennsylvania, which killed six people. The song, though, was vaguely inspired by the Aberfan tragedy in South Wales. On October 21, 1966, 144 people were killed, 116 of them children, when a waste tip slid down a mountainside; unsurprisingly the story generated massive media coverage, and even 40 years on the name Aberfan is synonymous with the tragedy.
The Gibb brothers wrote the song when they were sitting in the dark on some studio stairs at IBC studio in London imagining they were stuck in a mine accident. They placed it in New York; far from Wales where the Aberfan accident had taken place so as not to offend those who were hurt by it.

"It was dark and emulated a mining shaft," Barry Gibb told The Mail On Sunday, November 1, 2009. "The result was a very lonely sound."
The second verse has one line less than the first verse, which is an example of The Bee Gees intricate songcraft in their early years. >>
Suggestion credit:
Ben Dirks - Nijmegen, Netherlands
In the biography The Bee Gees: Tales Of The Brothers Gibb, Maurice Gibb is quoted as saying the song is "a total rip-off of the Beatles" although later he is said to have retracted this.
The Barclay James Harvest song The Great 1974 Mining Disaster is based on this Bee Gees song. >>
Suggestion credit:
Alexander Baron - London, England, for above 2
Robin and Barry sing in unison on this, a trick they also used on "How Deep Is Your Love."
Maurice Gibb recalled in a June 2001 interview with Mojo magazine: "The opening chord doesn't sound like a conventional A minor. Barry was using the open D tuning he'd been taught when he was nine, and I was playing it in conventional tuning. It gives an unusual blend. People went crazy trying to figure out why they couldn't copy it."
This was the first Bee Gees single to include Australian drummer Colin Petersen as an official member of the band. Peteresen would leave the group two years later.
This song was covered by Chumbawamba on their 2000 album WYSIWYG.

Comments: 12

Robin Greeson from 95336Has anyone considered the idea is NOT about any Disaster? Please tell me I am NOT the first one to understand that the picture is a picture of the Man he's speaking with (Mr. Jones) with the speaker's wife?? Ah well, as it now occurs to you that I might be on to something; I'm confident that you will see the innuendos with the rest of the lyrics. Enjoy, Peace, Music and Laughter
Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn May 11th 1967, the Bee Gees performed "New York Mining Disaster 1941 (Have You Seen My Wife, Mr. Jones)" on the BBC-TV program 'Top of the Pops', it also marked their debut on national British television…
At the time the song was at #17 on the United Kingdom's Singles chart; two weeks later it would peak at #12 for one week...
And in the U.S.A. ten days later on May 21st, 1967 it would enter Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart at position #79...
{See second post below}.
Susan from Atlanta, GeorgiaTo Mb - Newburgh, Ny: This song got me into the BeeGees, too.
Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn July 22nd 1967, a video of the Bee Gees performing "New York Mining Disaster" was aired on the ABC-TV program 'American Bandstand'...
Two months earlier on May 21st, 1967 it entered Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart at position #79; and on June 25th, 1967 it peaked at #14 (for 1 week) and spent 7 weeks on the Top 100...
It reached #3 in both New Zealand and the Netherlands...
At the time the video was aired on 'Bandstand', the trio's next charted record, "To Love Somebody", was in its 2nd week on the Top 100 at position #42, and five weeks later on August 20th, 1967 it peaked at #17 (for 1 week)...
R.I.P. Maurice (1949 - 2003), Robin (1949 - 2012), and Barry will celebrate his 68th birthday in two months on September 1st, 2014.
Andrew from Surrey, United KingdomRobert Stigwood — later of RSO (Robert Stigwood Organization) Records — released the song anonymously in the U.S., partially to incite the public's curiosity, and partially to get it more airplay on the basis that people might mistake it for the Beatles, (whom he also represented).
Dana from Woodbury, MnThey lived in Australia from 1958 to 1967, but are actually from Manchester, England. They moved their with their family as kids because a) their dad couldn't find work as a musician in Manchester and b) Robin and Barry would've been sent to reform school for always getting into trouble with local authorities for rowdy behavior.
Musicmama from New York, NyIt's too bad that when most people think of the Bee Gees, they think of all those disco hits they had. On NY Mining Disaster, you can hear what good musicians and performers they actually are.

This song came out at roughly the same time as the songs on Jefferson Airplane's "Surrealistic Pillow," the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper," "The Jimi Hendrix Experience" and other seminal rock 'n' roll recordings. This song holds its own with the others and has its own distinctive sound. I don't think anyone could've asked for much more than that.
Fred from Laurel, MdWhen this hit the airwaves, it was widely believed to be part of the "British invasion"; many of us were surprised to learn that they were actually from Australia.
Fred from Laurel, MdBen Dirks - Nijmegen, Netherlands:
Actually, it's the other way around; the second verse has one more line than the first. ***
All: This was their breakout hit in the U.S., as well. I think it was their first single released in the states; if not, it was in any case their first national hit here.
Robert from Los Angeles, CaOne of the most ominous songs I know
Marty from San Francisco, CaThere were three different versions recorded of this song.
Mb from Newburgh, Nysong got me into the bee gees

see more comments

More Songfacts:

Joy To The WorldThree Dog Night

Hoyt Axton wrote the Three Dog Night hit "Joy To The World." He said the "Jeremiah was a bullfrog" line just came into his head after having a drink of wine.

Hey Soul SisterTrain

Train's guitarist had to Google an instructional video to learn how to play the ukulele for "Hey Soul Sister."

American PieDon McLean

Don McLean's "American Pie" starts in mono and gradually goes to stereo. It isn't full stereo until the end of the song, which is over 8 minutes long.

Born To Be WildSteppenwolf

The first popular song to use the phrase "Heavy Metal" was "Born To Be Wild" by Steppenwolf, which was featured in the movie Easy Rider.

All StarSmash Mouth

"All Star" was written as a confidence builder for fans who were bullied for liking Smash Mouth.

Puff Daddy didn't get permission to sample the Police song "Every Breath You Take" on his Notorious B.I.G. tribute "I'll Be Missing You," but he later reached an agreement and even performed the song with Sting.