[Intro]
x2
[Verse]
I was born in the shadow of the Fairfield crane
Where the blast o a freighter s horn
Was the very first sound that reached my ears
On the morning I was born
I lay and I listened tae the shipyard sound
Coming out of the unknown
And was lulled to sleep by the mother tongue
That was to be my own
[Instrumental]
x2
[Verse]
But before I grew tae be one year old
I heard the sirens scream
As a city watched in the blacked-out night
A wandering searchlight beam
And then at last I awoke and rose
Tae my first day of peace
For I d learned that the battle to stay alive
Was never going tae cease
[Instrumental]
x2
[Verse]
I sat and I listened tae my father tell
Of the days that he once knew
When ye either sweated for a measly wage
Or ye joined the parish queue
As times grew harder day by day
Along the riverside
I oftimes heard my mother say
