Singing Scotland's Future and Past

John Robertson

Inspired by the widespread suffering of workers and their families from the use of asbestos: https://suno.com/s/cCEESbqJkkzFdtTj

On the stairs and on the hills, breathless

I was right into the nooks and crannies

I was useful because I was young and wee

Painting, scraping and trapped in thick dust

I had nae worries then because I was so young

On the stairs and on the hills, we’re breathless

There’s a fist gripped tight around my chest

I’ll be gone long before my love and my weans

It’ll be two score and ten if we’re bloody lucky

I was working on great big ships o’ the line

I was deep in places that must not burn

I feared nothing in the bowels of Dreadnoughts

That would keep those dreadful Germans away

On the stairs and on the hills, we’re breathless

There’s a fist gripped tight around my chest

I’ll be gone long before my love and my weans

It’ll be two score and ten if we’re bloody lucky

Davy he was first to cough and never stop

We heard it in his voice, rough like a saw

Difficult to swallow the little that he wanted

Then he was breathless and too tired to work

On the stairs and on the hills, we’re breathless

There’s a fist gripped tight around my chest

I’ll be gone long before my love and my weans

It’ll be two score and ten if we’re bloody lucky

He was the first to go leaving us at only 52

Jesus Bloody Christ! He was only fuckin’ 52

I’ll be next, I swear that I can feel it coming

We were weans together in the same school

On the stairs and on the hills, we’re breathless

There’s a fist gripped tight around my chest

I’ll be gone long before my love and my weans

It’ll be two score and ten if we’re bloody lucky

On the stairs and on the hills, we’re breathless

There’s a fist gripped tight around my chest

I’ll be gone long before my love and my weans

It’ll be two score and ten if we’re bloody lucky