Fmaj7 G7
Billy was born within sight of the shipyard
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first son of a riveter's son
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and Billy was raised as the ship grew a shadow
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her great hull would blot out the light of the sun.
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And six days a week he would watch his poor father
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a working man live like a slave
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he'd drink every night and he'd dream of a future
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of money he never would save.
Cm7 Ab
And Billy would cry when he thought of the future.
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Soon came a day when the bottle was broken
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they launched a great ship out to sea
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he felt he'd been left on a desolate shore
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to a future he desperately wanted to flee.
Cm7 Ab
What else was there for a riveter's son,
Bb
a new ship to be built, new work to be done.
F Bb Dm
One day, he dreamed of the ship in the world
F
it would carry his father and he
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to a place they would never be found
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to a place far away from this town.
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Trapped in the cage of the skeleton ship
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all the workmen suspended like flies
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caught in the flare of acetylene light
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a working man works till the industry dies.
Cm7 Ab
And Billy would cry when he thought of the future.
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Then what they call an industrial accident
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crushed those it couldn't forgive
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they brought Billy's father back home in an ambulance
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a brass watch, a cheque, maybe three weeks to live.
Cm7 Ab
And what else was there for a riveter's son,
Bb
a new ship to be built, new work to be done.
F Bb Dm
That night, he dreamed of the ship in the world
F
it would carry his father and he
Bb Gm7
to a place they could never be found,
F Gm C7 F
to a place far away from this town.
Bb Gm7
A Newcastle ship without coals,
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they would sail to the island of souls...
