p. 187
Alternate Title: 
Diggers' Song
First Line: 
We come in peace, they said, to dig and sow

Reference

Topic: 
Culture: 

About the Song

Rosselson wrote this song in 1975 & first recorded it on an album in the same year with Roy Bailey called "That's Not The Way It's Got To Be" on Fuse Records. (This is the first recording below - with this song coming after another song.)

Billy Bragg popularized the song. He 1st recorded it in 1985 on an EP released near the end of the national miners' strike. His recording went on to reach #15 on the charts. Rosselson recorded the song again on his 1990 album of "Rosselsongs". 

Here is an online article about the song: https://www.herecomesthesong.com/post/2018/08/22/leon-rosselson-and-billy-bragg-the-world-turned-upside-down

This song by Leon Rosselson should not be confused with the much older song "You Noble Diggers All" which is attributed to Gerrard Wistanley, the leader of The Diggers during the 17th century. It also should not be confused with another song called "The World Turned Upside Down", which was a mid-1640s broadside ballad written to mourn the Puritans' restrictions on celebrating Christmas during the Commonwealth period following the English Civil War.