Another interpretation, received by email.

Hi, Joe,

I just listened to the song again. It is possible that the Corries sing ‘infidel’ instead of ‘isnae’ in the chorus.

Whatever the case, here again are the lyrics with ‘infidel’ inserted in the 3rd line of the chorus. I cannot detect an ’s’ sound after ‘infidel,’ so I’ve not inserted one. ‘Infidel’ makes sense in the context of ‘Mecca’.

I have also changed ‘what’ to ‘when’ in stanza 4, line 5.

Regards,

Dr MAW

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THE FRIDAY GAME
(The Corries)

Well, the other Friday night I went oot jiggin' wi' ma mates,
Tae a place well kent in Edinburgh toon
And in case the scene got heavy, we nipped in tae hae a bevy,
Three pints, four vodkas and a Blue Lagoon
'Twas a quarter tae eleven when we climbed on board the bus,
Arg’in' wi' the driver o'er the fare
We were shoutin' out and singin', and the bus was fairly singin',
Wi' fish suppers we were eatin’ up the stair

Well, we staggered in the dancing, past the bouncers in their suits
And I says, "I'll see you later" tae the lads
Then I nipped in tae the bog tae comb my hair and squeeze ma plooks
And brush the dandruff frae my shoulder pads
When I joined up wi' Ronnie I was feelin' ten feet tall,
Nae dolly could resist my aftershave
From my usual position, leanin' up against the wall,
I perused the talent while the disco played

Oh, the jiggin’, dancin’, swiggin' is the life for all young men
Who've got red blood in their veins instead of blue
For some folk the dancin’ infidel idea o' paradise
But it's Mecca for the likes of me and you

Well now, Ronnie says to me, "D'ye fancy splittin' up these two?"
So casually we sauntered 'cross the hall
Ah, but ma one says, "You're nothin', cause I heard ye're on the booze,
And anyway I'm dancin' wi' my ball"
Ah well, somewhat taken doon, we wandered roond and roond the floor,
Tae see if we could find a bit o' spare,
Ah, but every bird we chatted up just didn't want tae know,
Ye'd have thought that we had beasties in oor hair

Well, the night being half way over, and we hadnae made the grade,
To sum up the evening, "rubbish" was the word
So we had a competition, wi' a screw-top for the prize,
Tae the one that got off wi' the ugliest bird
Well, I latched on tae this cracker, that was mockin' when I sing,
She looked as though her doctor was a min
She had a face like a half-chewed caramel and pretzels on her nose,
Aye, and legs that could kick-start a jungle gyn

Oh, the jiggin’, dancin’, swiggin' is the life for all young men
Who've got red blood in their veins instead of blue
For some folk the dancin’ infidel idea o' paradise
But it's Mecca for the likes of me and you

Well, I casually nicked my fag and stuffed it out behind my ear
And tenderly I clutched her sweaty paw
And although her face was crabbit, I’d heard she was a rabbit,
So the night’s been hardly wasted after all
As we danced around the floor, I whispered, "Darlin', where d'ye bide?"
And ma heart sank when she answered, "Broomhouse Square"
Well, I says, "It's nae a lumber but a pen-pal that you need
Or a mortgage for to pay your taxi fare."

Well, we waited for the taxi for an hour or maybe two,
For ye see, this lemon hadnae ta'en the hint
I was absolutely bo'kin, it was rainin', I was soakin'
By the time I paid the taxi, I was skint
Well, we cuddled in the close and I tried everythin' I ken
I even asked her out with me again
Oh but what can a fellow do wi' a expert in Kung Fu
And cap it all, I had tae walk back hame

Oh, the jiggin’, dancing, friggin’ is the life for all young men,
Who’ve got red blood in their veins instead of blue
For some folk the dancin’ infidel idea o’ paradise
But it's Mecca for the likes of me and you!