Grand To Be a Working Man

Brian Watson: On Autumn Harvest ah007: Old Songs & Bothy Ballads: Grand to Be a Working Man. Recorded at the Fife Traditional Singing Festival May 2008.

Written by Terry Conway of Allendale, Northumberland

1: Now it's early in the mornin and I'd like tae lie the day,
But that's not the way the work gets done, I've heard the old men say;
So I'll up and get the claes on for it's time to be away,
Oh it's grand to be a working man,

Working man, working man,

Oh it's grand to be a working man.

2: There's nowt like diggin ditches when the flies are on the go,
But to find such so beguiling aboot sweat I'll never know;
But they come aroond in thoosands just to do the heel and toe,
Just to agravate the working man.

3: When the centigrades are tumbling and there's slates to patch and bind,
And the cold has got ye foondered, never pay it any mind;
For it kills the little microbes other cleaners leave behind,
Oh it's healthy being a working man.

4: Or ye might be sent to other jobs where all that is required,
Is to work a wee bit faster for the muscles to be fired;
But to tell the honest truth I'd sooner gan home cold than tired,
Oh I'm proud to be a working man.

5: Then they'll talk of right and left, or up and doon and east and west,
Of the dignity of labour and the pride that stands the test;
But I've put my cross on Littlewood's, I'm hoping for the best,
I'll resign from being a working man.

6: Then ye'll hear the politicians talk of freedom by and by,
But I'll shake ma heid like Socrates and wink the other eye;
For freedom's an alarm clock that plays Brahm's lullabye,
For the comfort of a working man.

Working man, working man,

For the comfort of a working man.