My Time Again

My Daddy he were just a boy when he walked outta school
His Mammy said there’d soon be one more hungry mouth to fill
He said 'the learnin' and the schoolin' wurnae bad for them that could
Tho' I can read & write my bloody name & sign it where I should'
And he said
'If I had my time again, I know I’d be a learned man
An artisan in high demand, a Doctor or a Teacher
As sure as guns are made of iron, I were born a working man
I’d live & die right where I stand if I’d my time again'
He went wide eyed down tae Johnny Brown, he were a big lad for his years
And there he worked so long if he ever cried there’d be iron ore in his tears
He’d tumble in of a Friday night a Haddie for yer tea
And he’d sing to me their dirty songs & diddle me on his knee
And he’d sing
'If I had my time again, I know I’d be a rovin' man
I’d rove away to far Japan to court the Emperors daughter.'
With his mates he’d belt the plates on fleets of shining awe
To carry all the well-to-do to golden foreign shores
They all coughed themselves to an early grave half filled with bloody rain
As the people sang 'The Long Black Limousine'
We all sing!
'If I had my time again, I know I’d be a fightin' man
In far Malay or Vietnam, tho' I am more a lover.'