The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #137101 Message #3232727
Posted By: Ross Campbell
02-Oct-11 - 04:55 PM
Thread Name: Fleetwood & Fishing: Songs of the Trawling Trade
Subject: Lyr Add: THREE DAY MILLIONAIRE (Waterson/Baxter)
THREE-DAY MILLIONAIRE
Mike Waterson
adapted Ron Baxter
Well I left school Friday, and I started work on Saturday;
To catch the early tide and be a galley boy's me plan.
On the fishing grounds to roam, eighteen hundred miles from home,
I couldn't give a bugger, I'm a man!
I shall get a Deckie Learning, it's the bonus I'll be earning,
And the money it comes in handy for the old "ran dan"!
Brylcreem in my hair, "Three Day Millionaire",
I couldn't give a bugger, I'm a man!
I shall get meself a suit made, to show I'm in the fishing trade,
I'll put me "Brothel creepers" on, and I'll slander when I can.
All me pots are pint-sized, watch me getting paralyzed
To show the other buggers who's a man!
And when I get to Skipper, I'll get married, have a nipper,
And I'll take the lad to sea wi' me and I'll teach him all I can;
Then you'll hear me crow, "I've got a house on Skipper's Row!"
And I'll show the bleedin' neighbours who's a man!
Then you'll hear me crow "I've got a house on Skipper's Row!"
And I'll show the bleedin' neighbours who's a man!
Sung by Dick Gillingham and Mike Huntington.
The late Mike Waterson graciously allowed us to adapt his song to give it a Fleetwood slant.
The sixties saw large sums of money being earned by very young men, some of whom could progress very rapidly from deckie-learner to skipper. Deckhands' minimal wages could be multiplied many times over by the "poundage" bonus which would be due if their ship brought back a good catch and found a favourable market. Top skippers' earnings would regularly exceed that of the Prime Minister or heads of industry.