shipyard

ah

me name is jackie white and i'm foreman of the yard

and ye don't mess with jackie on this quayside. why i'm as hard as iron plate

woe betide ye if yr late

when we have to push the boat out on a spring tide. now ye could die and hope for heaven

but ye'd need to work your shift

and i'd expect ye's all to back us to the hilt. and if st. peter at his gate were to ask ye why yr late

why you'd tell him that ye had to get a ship built. we built battleships and cruisers for her majesty the queen

super tankers for onassis

and all the classes in between

we built the greatest shipping tonnage that the world has ever seen

and the only life we've known is in the shipyard. all the platers and the welders

and the boiler making crews

when they see that bugger finished on the slipway

all the hardship's soon forgot and we'll cheer as like as not

and the bairns'll wave their union jacks all day. it's a patriotic scene

all that's missing is the queen

but she said she couldn't make it of a tuesday. then something wells up here inside

and you could take it in yr stride

but you wonder if you'll see another payday. for there's a mixture of emotions

hatred

gratitude and pride

and you hate yourself for crying but it's difficult to hide

for there's a sadness in the leavin' and ye worry what's ahead

and that worry never leaves ye

keeps on nagging in yr head

and so ye pray to god for orders

but ye'll worry till yr dead. until they bury your remains in the blacksmith's shed

and the only life ye've known is in the shipyard. steel in the stockyard

iron in the soul

we'll conjure up a ship where there used to be a hole. and i don't know what we'll do if this yard gets sold

for the only life we've known is in the shipyard.