Poverty Knock

Roy Bailey

Originale

Janet Wood's version

POVERTY KNOCK Up in the morning at five, it's a wonder that we stay alive It sets me yawning to great the cold dawning And back to the old, dreary drive ‎[Chorus after every other verse]‎ Poverty poverty knock, my loom it is saying all day Poverty poverty knock, Gaffer's too skinny to pay Poverty poverty knock, always one eye on the clock I know I can guttle when I hear me shuttle go Poverty poverty knock ‎ Oh dear, I'm going to be late, Gaffer is standing at gate With his hands in his pockets our wages he'll dock us We'll have to buy grub on the slate ‎ We have to wet our own yarn by dipping it in yonder tarn It's cold and it's soggy, it makes me feel And there's rats in that dirty old barn.‎ ‎ Sometimes a shuttle flies out and gives some poor woman a clout She lies there bleeding while nobody's heading Who's going to carry her out? ‎ The tuner should tackle my loom, but he just sits there on his bum He's always busy a-courting our Lizzie And I just can't get him to come ‎ And Lizzie's so easily led, I reckon he takes her to bed She used to be skinny, now look at her pinny It's just about time they were wed ‎ Oh my poor head how it sings, I should have woven three strings The threads they keep breaking, my poor heart is aching Oh God, how I wish I had wings.‎

POVERTY KNOCK Poverty poverty knock, my loom is a saying all day Poverty poverty knock, gaffer's too skinny to pay Poverty poverty knock, keeping one eye on the clock I know I can guttle when I hear my shuttle go poverty poverty knock One hundred years and a score This song echoes from the mill floor From factory workers to drivers and servers The rich are still fleecing the poor Personal needs are a crime When slaving for Amazon Prime Working full throttle I’ll pee in a bottle ’Cos loo breaks are deemed idle time Nine seconds to process a pack It’s taking its toll on my back I’m fighting off sleep, work all day on the cheap, think I’m having a panic attack Three hundred items an hour The joys of employment gone sour Force of the market’s, impossible targets The clock and the boss hold the power So poverty, poverty knocks, its sound can be heard down the years Poverty, poverty knocks, playing on family fears Poverty, poverty knocks, still keeping an eye on the clock It stalks in the dark before making its mark Singing poverty, poverty knock