My Time Again - The Rumjacks

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.'