Why Aye Man ("The Ragpicker's Dream" 30.09.2002 Mercury /UK/ , Warner Bros. /US/)
We had no way of staying afloat We had to leave on the ferry boat Economic refugees On the run to Germany We had the back of Maggie's hand Times were tough in Geordieland We got wor tools and working gear And humped it all from Newcastle to here
Why aye man, why aye, why aye man Why aye man, why aye, why aye man
We're the nomad tribes, travelling boys In the dust and dirt and the racket and the noise Drills and hammers, diggers and picks Mixing concrete, laying bricks There's English, Irish, Scots, the lot United Nation's what we've got Brickies, chippies, every trade German building, british-made
Why aye man, why aye, why aye man Why aye man, why aye, why aye man
Nae more work on Maggie's farm Hadaway down the autobahn Mine's a portacabin bed Or a bunk in a nissen hut instead
There's plenty deutschmarks here to earn And German tarts are wunderschoen German beer is chemical-free Germany's alreet with me Sometimes I miss my river Tyne But you're my pretty fraulein Tonight we'll drink the old town dry Keep wor spirit levels high
Why aye man, why aye, why aye man Why aye man, why aye, why aye man