Lyrics Ewan MacColl, Charles Parker, Peggy Seeger - It doesn't matter where you come from...

It doesn’t matter where you come from, what colour you are, what religion. Anything, it doesn’t
make any difference, if you’ve got that feeling that you want to be a driver, if you’ve got it in your
blood, you’ll make a railwayman. You see there’s one thing about railway work, especially footplate
work - you must have a leaning for that job. I’ve had a West Indian fireman with me, on long
distance trains, and he’s been as good a fireman as I’ve ever had on the job. He definitely has it in
his blood, and he comes from Jamaica.

You give her water, you give her coal,
Hand on the regulator, watch her roll.
Mama, I swear as long as I live, going to serve me steam locomotive.
Dirty tunnels, blinding smoke,
Cover your head, mate, or else you’ll choke
Mama me heart and me soul I give, going to serve the steam locomotive.

Got me paddle iron, that’s a ten foot spoon,
Got me pricker and me dart like a long harpoon, Mama, I tell you positive, going to serve me steam locomotive.
You’ve got to watch the line
And get her there in time
And keep her rolling,
Keep your hand on the brake
She’s a monster, mate, that you’re controlling,
You can sing the praises of the aviators,
Rocket pilots and ocean navigators,
Arctic explorers and deep sea divers, but me, I sing of the engine drivers.
Mama, listen to me narrative, going to serve me steam locomotive.

What a feeling you have when you get off the shed. You’ve got the engine, you’ve got the control of
it, and what a feeling, I’m cock of the bank. There’s nobody can take a rise out of me now, she’s
mine. Come on, me old beauty - and off we go. The moon’s out, and the countryside it’s lovely. Look
at that hill over there with the moon shining on it and the trees and the valley. It’s beautiful. On
we go, what a feeling. She answers to every touch. Some more rock on, lad. Yes it’s grand. Ooh
look, they’re lit up in the mill across the way. Somebody else is working on nights besides us. Eee
look there – sun’s coming over the hills, and what a sight. England at dawn. It’s been worth losing a
night’s sleep for, this has, if only the people of England could see it. England, England - and there’s
nowhere like it at dawn.

Hello, Bobby, yeah, 8188 Light to Adswood, 6.11 Buxton right, righto mate.

Well, here we go again.

The iron road is a hard road and the work is never-ending,
Working night and day on the iron way,
With our
Loco drivers, early-risers, lodging-turners, Pile-burners, eleven-quid-a-week-earners -
We’re the boys who keep ‘em rolling.