Dan

"Dan"
by Eric Bogle

I'm pleased to meet you, my name's Dan,
and I'm an honest working man
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

Those hard years on the factory floor,
toilin' in the ceaseless roar,
that 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 wealth?
Just how much is your life worth?

I live in a house I'll never own,
could never get a housing loan
Bank managers and suchlike,
don't rate the likes of me
Feeding three kids on a fitter's wage,
I've always found it hard to save
And being an honest working man
don't count as equity

All those years of toil and sweat,
climbing in and out of debt
I often look back on them
and ask myself for what?
A rented house on a grimy street
An endless fight to make ends meet
When you add it all together,
it don't seem like a lot
But it's all that I've got

But a man's life can't be judged alone
by what he has or what he owns
It's what he loves and cares for
that gives it quality
And what gives meaning to my life
are my three kids and my wife
We've always stuck together,
always being a family

Now my kids are rotting on the dole,
holding out the beggar's bowl
I see the anger in their eyes,
it cuts me to the heart
and shall I simply stand aside
while my kids are slowly crucified?
Watch all I've worked and cared for
as it slowly falls apart
Well by Christ, I won't do that

I'm pleased to meet you, my name's Dan,
and I'm an honest working man
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 though I ain't 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 you leeches, grown fat on my sweat,
I promise you I won't forget
When I asked you if you'd share the load,
you laughed right in my face
Yes, you laughed right in my face

I'm pleased to meet you, my name's Dan,
and I'm an honest working man