Complete words for those who don't know it...


Rolling Home
(John Tams)


Round goes the wheel of fortune
Don't be afraid to ride
There's a land of milk and honey
Waits on the other side
There'll be peace and there'll be plenty
You'll never need to roam
When we go rolling home, when we go rolling home.

Rolling home, when we go rolling home
When we go rolling, rolling, when we go rolling home

The gentry in their fine array
Do prosper night and morn
While we unto the fields must go
To plough and sow their corn
The rich may steal the power
But the glory's ours alone
When we go rolling home (etc)

The frost is on the hedgerow
The icy winds do blow
While we poor weary labourers
Strive through the driving snow
Our dreams fly up to glory
Up where the lark has flown
When we go rolling home (etc)

The summer of resentment
The winter of despair
The journey to contentment
Is set with trap and snare
Stand to and stand together
Your labour's yours alone
When we go rolling home (etc)

So pass the bottle round
And let the toast go free
Here's a health to every labourer
Wherever they may be
Fair wages now and ever
Let's reap what we have sown
When we go rolling home (etc)


Written about 1987, this song first featured in the play "Cider with Rosie" and was also used in Bill Bryden's production of "The Big Picnic" and the film "The Raggedy Rawney". It has since settled snugly into folk club repertoires. It's a regular encore for the John Tams Band, since the band can melt off and leave the audience belting out the last few choruses, led only by a manically grinning Keith on djembe.