Barrett's Song

She's sparkling clean this new born ship
But one old thing is clear

The orders they propose above

We excuse down here

We'll watch form here as up above
They'll catch a whiff of glory

This wonder ship may be brand new

But it's the same old story

Stoke the fire in the hold
As the men draw back

Feed the heat in the hold
As the men draw back
And the dust of the coal in the air is black
And a trickle of sweat runs down your back

And what are the boys from the midlands doing here

Coal it is that makes the steam
That runs the machines that run the world
That sends the men below the ground
To mine the coal

Each day

From leicestershire and nottingham
Us lads who worked down in the pit
Knew if you got above the ground
You'd save your soul
Some way

Get out of the pit

And westward I knew I could run

And ship out to sea and there my new life was begun

And the screws are turning at seventy-one

It became my dream to go out to sea

Further out from the mine you couldn' t be

But born to the coal there's no place for you elsewhere

You trade a life of dank and gloom
To shovel in the boiler room
But now your seven decks below

A lady's dainty feet

And nothing has changed

There's nothing a miner can do

The pit and your mates
Turned into the hold and the crew

And the screws are turning at seventy-two

Faster and faster we watch as we gain ever more

Seventy-three and too soon it is seventy-four

For a record speed I believe we strive

For the maiden ship that's too hard to drive

If you push her faster than seventy-five

That is the truth

I swear