I was born in the shadow of the Fairfield crane where the blast o' a freighter's horn
Was the very first sound that reached my ears on the morning I was born
I lay and I listened tae the shipyard sound coming out of the unknown
And was lulled to sleep by the mother tongue that was to be my own
But before I grew tae be one year old, I heard the sirens scream
As a city watched in the blacked-out night, a wandering searchlight beam
And then at last I awoke and rose tae my first day of peace
For I'd learned that the battle to stay alive was never going tae cease
I sat and I listened tae my father tell of the days that he once knew
When ye either sweated for a measly wage or ye joined the parish queue
As times grew harder day by day along the riverside
I ofttimes heard my mother say, "It was tears that made the Clyde"
Now I've sat in the school frae nine tae four and I've dreamed of the world outside
Where the riveters and the platers watch their ships slip tae the Clyde
I've served ma time behind the shipyard gates and I've sometimes mourned my lot
But if any man tries tae mess me about, I will fight like my father fought
