(Eric Bogle)
I'm pleased to meet you, my name's Dan, I'm an honest working man
That's a tarnished badge, they tell me, but it's one I wear with pride
A fair day's work for a fair day's pay, I've always lived my life that way
But now I can't help thinking I've been taken for a ride
All those years on the factory floor, working in the ceaseless roar
Made me old before my time, wrecked my hearing and my health
And when I total up the cost, what I've gained to what I've lost
I ask myself, Now Dan, what's the total of your plan
How much is your life worth?
I live in a house I'll never own, I couldnae get a housing loan
Bank managers and folk like that don't rate the likes of me
And feeding kids on a fitter's wage, I always found it hard to save
It seems that honest working hands are no security
All those years of toil and sweat, climbing in and out of debt
I often look back on them and I ask myself, For what?
For a rented house in a grimy street, an endless fight to make ends meet
When you add them all together it doesn't make a lot
But it's all, it's all I've got
But a man's life can't be judged alone on what he has or what he owns
It's what he loves and cares for that gives it quality
What brings meaning to my life are my children and my wife
We've always stuck together, we've always been a family
But now my kids are rotting on the dole, holding out a beggar's bowl
I see the anger in their eyes, it cuts me to the heart
So shall I simply stand aside and watch them coldly crucified
See all I've worked and cared for slowly fall apart
No by Christ, I won't do that
I'm pleased to meet you, my name's Dan, I'm an honest working man
That's a tarnished badge, they tell me, but it's one I wear with pride
A fair day's work for a fair day's pay, I've always lived my life that way
But now I can't help thinking I've been taken for a ride
And although I've not got much to spare, what I have I'm going to share
To give my kids and other kids some purpose, pride and place
And those who grew fat on the sweat, I promise them I won't forget
When I asked them to share the load, they laughed right in my face
Oh, they laughed right in my face
I'm pleased to meet you, my name's Dan, I'm an honest working man
(as sung by Iain MacKintosh)