Men of Worth

Leave the land behind, laddie, you've better days to find

The companies have the money and they'll soon teach you the skills

Green fields far away, laddie, the forties and the brae

Be a mudman or a roustabout, you'll soon learn how to drill

But who will tend the sheep when I'm far o'er the deep?

On the Neptune or the Seaquest when the snow comes to the hill

Leave the fishing trade, laddie, there's money to be made

The hand-line and the Shetland yawl are from a bygone day

Come to Aberdeen, laddie; sights you've never seen!

Be a welder on the pipeline or a fitter at Nigg Bay

But when the job is o'er and my boat rots on the shore

How will I feed my family when the companies move away?

There's harbours to be built, lads, rigs to tow and tilt

To rest upon the ocean bed, like pylons in the sea

Pipelines to be laid and a hundred different trades

That will pay a decent living wage to the likes of you and me

• Artist:Archie Fisher
• Album:Will Ye Gang, Love