Corned Beef City Lyrics

[erknorea]

Hope this is pretty close - the question marks are vacant slots for tab transposition - ain't had time yet.
Any comments or improvements would be welcome..

Enjoy....

[dmg]

I tend to agree on nearly all except at one point where I think he sings "laying off folk" and not "laying off at four."

Corned Beef City

Early in the morning
gonna see the man
wants the truck unloading for cash in-hand
you don't ask questions
when there's nothing in the bank
you gotta feed the kids and put the diesel in the tank

bacon, egg and sausage
double chips and beans
tea and bread and butter and a day on the machines
Christmas is coming
with the final demands
so what you got going for cash in-hand?

'cos it aint too pretty
corned beef city
it aint too pretty
corned beef city

It's early in the morning
where the trucks all stand
I got a pocket full of foldin'
and a pair of Jerrycans
gotta keep it going
'cos they're layin' off folk
I'm only one step ahead
of my room and board

it aint too pretty
corned beef city
it aint too pretty
corned beef city

early in the morning
gonna meet the man
wants the truck unloading for cash in-hand
Christmas is coming
with the final demands
so what you got going for cash in-hand?

it aint too pretty
corned beef city
it aint too pretty
corned beef city

[Love Expresso]

Sorry to dig up this old thread again, but I can't wait for the new album, and I never gave these lyrics a closer look because I was so into Privateering..

What does the "pair of Jerrycans" imply?

LE

[Banjo99uk]

Sorry to dig up this old thread again, but I can't wait for the new album, and I never gave these lyrics a closer look because I was so into Privateering..

What does the "pair of Jerrycans" imply?

LE

Jerry cans are an English term for containers that store diesel/petrol. The word Jerry or Gerry refers to The Germans as I think they invented them. I provided this answer from my own limited knowledge, any superior answers welcome.

[Banjo99uk]

Here you go.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerrycan

[Love Expresso]

Thanks!

I think I got it now: He got the money AND the jerrycans as a "reward" for work...  My first thought was that he had to unload a truck full jerrycans! 

LE

[Banjo99uk]

I think he means he is so desperate for money and fuel he carries a couple of jerrycans of fuel in case he runs out of diesel. The whole song seems to be based on a very impoverished person.

[rock13]

just a bit of correction it is 'they're laying off at ford'. I read somewhere that it is about the dry spell of the car industry in Detroit.

[superval99]

just a bit of correction it is 'they're laying off at ford'. I read somewhere that it is about the dry spell of the car industry in Detroit.

Yes, and at Ford in Dagenham - Corned Beef City!      

Welcome to AMIT btw rock13   

[dustyvalentino]

I think he means he is so desperate for money and fuel he carries a couple of jerrycans of fuel in case he runs out of diesel. The whole song seems to be based on a very impoverished person.

I always thought he was stealing diesel from the trucks and putting it into Jerry cans.

Interesting that it is Ford! Makes sense. I always thought it was laying off at four.

[dmg]

I think he means he is so desperate for money and fuel he carries a couple of jerrycans of fuel in case he runs out of diesel. The whole song seems to be based on a very impoverished person.

Interesting that it is Ford! Makes sense. I always thought it was laying off at four.

LOL.  Until I actually read the lyrics, so did I!

[Stanko]

Still, I'm not sure what is the role of the main character in the song and what is he doing?

[3Strats]

I think this track and the title track both concern "Privateers" . The lead character in Corned Beef City is someone who is short of cash and is prepared to work for "cash in hand" or even some diesel, and by so doing bypassing the need to pay Taxes to the govenment .in effect working unofficially or "outside the law" governing normal employment.

[Stanko]

I can't figure this one: I got a pocket full of foldin' ?

What I think is that he's actually stealing diesel from the trucks that are parked at Ford
('cos they're layin' off at Ford)

[superval99]

I can't figure this one: I got a pocket full of foldin' ?

What I think is that he's actually stealing diesel from the trucks that are parked at Ford
('cos they're layin' off at Ford)

"A pocket full of foldin'"   Is paper money.