A                              G
Joe spoke no english but he had a dream
        A                       G
And he saved up most of his pay
A                      G
To bring his wife and six kids from Lebanon
        G       D      A
And settle down here to stay

A                              G
You could feel the prison of his loneliness
        A               G
He wouldn't see them for years
        A                      G
He kept brandy behind the compressed air tanks
        G               D              A
And he gulped it when the coast was clear

A                      G
Nick the Greek collected tropical fish
A                       G
Had to be a character too
A                              G
Smuggled in Pirhana just to break the law
        G       D      A
And he fed them on kangaroo

A                      G
Bob's pride was his handlebar moustache
A                       G
Said he still combed out sand
A                      G
Pushed a tank through the Sahara desert
        G               D      A
So they made him the leading hand

G                              D
And the summer night shifts were long and cool
D/F#                    D
Charlie chain smoked cigars
D/C#                   D/B            D/A
David sweated in his speckled paint mask
        G       G/F#      Em
As he gazed out at the stars

A                      G
Crazy Charlie was a Yugoslav
        A                       G
His old straight eight Chevy could move
        A                      G
His ambition was to live on a hippie commune
                G       D      A
When Dave told him about free love

A                              G
Fred had been a farmer and a heavyweight champ
A                       G
Hands like a stump jump plough
A                      G
Moved the earth with a thrust of his arms
                G       D      A
He was loading on the paint line now

G                              D
And the boys made a noise every Friday night
        D/F#                    D
At the bar of the Hilton Hotel
D/C#                   D/B            D/A
Downing pints and chewing the fat
                G       G/F#      Em
Till the ten o'clock closing bell

        A                      G
It was only rumour til the foreman came
        A                       G
And hiding his shame with a cough
        A                              G
He said they're cutting back down to one shift now
        G              D      A
They're gonna have to lay you off

G                              D
Joe held his gaze and gulped a brandy
        D/F#                    D
And spat it out at his feet
D/C#                   D/B            D/A
Bob stood bolt still looking thunderstruck
        G       G/F#      Em
Nick swore for an hour in Greek

        A                      G
Their anger was spent in a rush of fire
        A               G
And smouldered out of mind
A                              G
When they shook hands on that last grey day
        G       D      A
Each was in his way resigned

        A              G
Then a few days later I saw old Joe
A                       G
Looking like he'd aged ten years
A                      G
Drunk on the tiles at the Stag Hotel
        G               D      A
And he couldn't hold back the tears

G                              D
Fred had talked of his grueling heavyweight bouts
        D/F#                    D
I remembered what he'd said
 D/C#                   D/B            D/A
There's no giving up on that killing floor
G             G/F#         Em
If you don't fight you're dead

        A                              G
If you work with your hands for your livelihood
        A                       G
Some day you might have to choose
A                              G
When the class war rages on the factory floor
G               D      A
If you don't fight you lose
If you don't fight you loose...