Factory Girl (

Roud The Roud Folk Song Index is a database of around 250,000 references to nearly 25,000 songs collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world. It is compiled by Steve Roud. Roud's Index is a combination of the Broadsid ...

1659) is a

traditional A tradition is a system of beliefs or behaviors (folk custom) passed down within a group of people or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examp ...

song. It was collected by Roud in both England and Ireland, and has been performed by

The Roches The Roches were an American vocal trio of sisters Maggie, Terre and Suzzy Roche, from Park Ridge, New Jersey. Career In the late 1960s, eldest sister Maggie (October 26, 1951 – January 21, 2017) and middle sister Terre (pronounced "Terry" ...

The Chieftains The Chieftains were a traditional Irish folk band formed in Dublin in 1962, by Paddy Moloney, Seán Potts and Michael Tubridy. Their sound, which is almost entirely instrumental and largely built around uilleann pipes, has become synonymous w ...

with

Sinéad O'Connor Shuhada' Sadaqat (born Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor; , ; 8 December 1966 – 26 July 2023) was an Irish singer, songwriter, record producer and activist. Her debut studio album, ''The Lion and the Cobra'', was released in 1987 and achieve ...

, Lisa O'Neill with Radie Peat,

Margaret Barry Margaret Barry (1917–1989) was an Irish Traveller, traditional singer and banjo player. Biography Born Margaret Cleary in Cork into a family of Travellers and street singers, she taught herself how to play the zither banjo and the fiddle ...

Rhiannon Giddens Rhiannon Giddens (born February 21, 1977) is an American musician known for her eclectic folk music. She is a founding member of the country, blues, and old-time music band the Carolina Chocolate Drops, where she was the lead singer, fiddle pl ...

, and

Eric Burdon Eric Victor Burdon (born 11 May 1941) is an English singer and songwriter. He was previously the lead vocalist of the rhythm and blues, R&B and Rock music, rock band The Animals and the funk band War (band), War. He is regarded as one of the Br ...

. In 2015, Rhiannon Giddens released a version on an EP of the same name, rewritten in response to disasters such as the

2013 Dhaka garment factory collapse The Rana Plaza collapse (also referred to as the Savar building collapse) occurred on 24 April 2013, when the eight-story Rana Plaza commercial building collapsed due to a structural failure. The search for survivors lasted for 19 days and end ...

Synopsis

Its lyrics tell the story of a young man who meets a poor girl on her way to her job at a factory. She initially resists the singer's advances due to her class pride and ability to support herself. Endings of the song vary; in some, the two characters end up marrying, but in others, the girl ultimately rejects the suitor. In Gidden's version, the lyrics are rewritten so that the song ends with the collapse of the factory and death of the titular girl, in reference to the unsafe working conditions in many factories, particularly garment factories.

References

Eric Burdon songs Irish folk songs Year of song unknown Songs with unknown songwriters {{folk-song-stub