Men of Worth
(Click on title to play tune)
Leave the land behind, laddie, better days to find
The companies have the money and they'll soon teach you the skills
Green fields far away, lads, the forties and the brae
Be a madman or a roustabout, they'll soon teach you to drill
But who will tend me sheep when I'm far o'er the deep
On the Neptune or the Seaquest when the snow comes to the hill
La la la la ....

Leave the fishing trade, lads, there's money to be made
The hard life and the Shetlands are all but bygone days
Come to Aberdeen, lads, sights you've never seen
Be a welder on the pipeline or a fitter at McVeigh
But when the job is o’er and your boats rot on the shore
How will you feed your families when the companies go away
La la la la ....

There's harbours to be built, lads, rigs to tow and tilt
To rest upon the ocean bed, like pylons in the sea
Pipelines to be laid and a hundred different trades
That'll pay a decent living wage to the likes of you and me
I know you're men of worth, you're the best that's in the north
Not men of greed, but men who need the work that comes your way
From Fluttock to Kishore a new industry is born
Old Peterhead and Comarty will never be the same

I know you're men of worth, you're the best that's in the north
Not men of greed, but men who need the work that comes your way
La la la la ....

Words and music by Archie Fisher. Also recorded by Mary Black on Mary Black Collected. Sequenced by Tom Connole.

menworth.htm 2/7/07