Chords for Shipyard Apprentice - The Battlefield Band

_ [G] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ I was born in the shadow of [D] a fair-field crane,
And the blast of a _ [G] freighter's horn
Was the very [G] first sound that reached my ears
On the morning I [D] was born. _
I lay and I listened to the shipyard sounds
[G] Coming out of [D] the unknown, _
[D] And was lulled to [G] sleep by a mother tongue
That [G] was to be [D] my own.
_ But when I grew to one year old,
I heard the sirens scream
_ As the city [G] watched in the blacked-out night
A _ wandering [D] searchlight beam.
_ And then at last I [C] awoke and rose
To [G] my first [D]
day [G] of peace,
But I [A] learned that [G] the battle to stay alive
_ [C] Was never _ going [A] to cease.
[D] _ _ [G] _ _ _
_ [D] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ [G] _ _ _ _ [D] _ _ [C] _
_ [G] _ _ _ _ [C] _ _ [G] _
_ [D] _ _ _ I've [G] sat and I've listened [D] to my father tell
Of the days that he [G] once knew,
When [D] you either [C]
sweated for [G] a measly wage
Or you joined the parish [D] queue,
_ And times got harder day by day
[G] Along [D] the _ [G]
riverside.
_ [D] And I've often [C] heard [G] my mother say
It was [C] tears that [G] made the [D]
clide.
I've [G] sat in the school [D] fray ninety-four
And I've dreamed of the world [G] outside _
[D] Where the _ [G] revetars and the plaiters
Watched their ships slip to the [D] glide. _
I've served my time behind the shipyard gates,
[G] And I've [D] sometimes moaned [G] my lot,
But [D] if any man [C] tries to mess me about,
I will fight like my father [D] fought.
_ _ _ [D] _