| I remember my grandmother sat with her radio,
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| tea cup and walking stick set by her side.
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| As her old fingers reached out to turn up the volume,
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| I learnt what it meant to be bursting with pride.
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| She told me some tales of wars great and last,
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| black and white film stars sha’d liked in the past.
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| Taught me a few songs she’d learnt as a child,
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| stunned by her wisdom I listened and smiled.
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| She said to me «Lad, if you’ll be a musician,
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| go out and be one — but one with conviction.
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| If there’s just one lesson the young ought to learn,
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| it’s pay no deposit and get no return.»
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| Get no return.
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| Pay no deposit and get no return.
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| On time faded photographs I’ve seen an airman,
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| Stood next to the wings of a flying machine
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| and given the choice well I think I would rather
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| have done what I’ve done than have seen what he’s seen.
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| I think that the Old Man feels really quite proud,
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| when he sits at the wheel and turns it up loud,
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| but imagined his son a lawyer or broker,
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| not sat on a bus full of drinkers and tokers.
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| He said to me «Son you can do as you please,
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| but always stand straight — never crawl on your knees.
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| If there’s just one lesson the young ought to learn,
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| it’s pay no deposit and get no return.»
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| If there’s just one lesson the young ought to learn,
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| it’s pay no deposit and get no return.
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| Get no return.
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| Pay no deposit and get no return.
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| I’ve such a short time to tell you so much,
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| words come second best to a kiss or a touch.
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| Far thicker than water this blood we all share,
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| So please don’t think that for you I don’t care.
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| Fate may have driven us all separate ways,
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| but can’t sever ancestry — splice D. N. A.
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| If life seems a road that’s uneven and long,
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| to know where you’re going just look Who you came from.
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| Many have said I take after my mother,
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| for her '67 was not a good year.
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| Though often I make her annoyed like no other,
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| through thick and through thin she has always been near.
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| Sometimes in the cold now I catch myself smiling,
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| 'bout some stupid joke or a Christmas tree shining.
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| I stood there so small 'neath that glittering tower,
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| it’s memory a beacon in my darkest hour.
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| She said to me «Martin, whatever you’ll be,
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| there’s no such thing as a meal that’s for free.
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| If there’s just one lesson the young ought to learn,
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| it’s pay no deposit and get no return.»
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| If there’s just one lesson the young ought to learn,
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| it’s pay no deposit and get no return.
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| Get no return.
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| Pay no deposit and get no return. |