A Mark In Time
Previous Albums => Privateering (2012) => Topic started by: erknorea on November 16, 2011, 10:25:20 AM
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Hope this is pretty close - the question marks are vacant slots for tab transposition - ain't had time yet.
Any comments or improvements would be welcome..
Enjoy....
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I tend to agree on nearly all except at one point where I think he sings "laying off folk" and not "laying off at four."
Corned Beef City
Early in the morning
gonna see the man
wants the truck unloading for cash in-hand
you don't ask questions
when there's nothing in the bank
you gotta feed the kids and put the diesel in the tank
bacon, egg and sausage
double chips and beans
tea and bread and butter and a day on the machines
Christmas is coming
with the final demands
so what you got going for cash in-hand?
'cos it aint too pretty
corned beef city
it aint too pretty
corned beef city
It's early in the morning
where the trucks all stand
I got a pocket full of foldin'
and a pair of Jerrycans
gotta keep it going
'cos they're layin' off folk
I'm only one step ahead
of my room and board
it aint too pretty
corned beef city
it aint too pretty
corned beef city
early in the morning
gonna meet the man
wants the truck unloading for cash in-hand
Christmas is coming
with the final demands
so what you got going for cash in-hand?
it aint too pretty
corned beef city
it aint too pretty
corned beef city
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Sorry to dig up this old thread again, but I can't wait for the new album, and I never gave these lyrics a closer look because I was so into Privateering..
What does the "pair of Jerrycans" imply?
LE
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Sorry to dig up this old thread again, but I can't wait for the new album, and I never gave these lyrics a closer look because I was so into Privateering..
What does the "pair of Jerrycans" imply?
LE
Jerry cans are an English term for containers that store diesel/petrol. The word Jerry or Gerry refers to The Germans as I think they invented them. I provided this answer from my own limited knowledge, any superior answers welcome.
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Here you go.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerrycan
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Thanks!
I think I got it now: He got the money AND the jerrycans as a "reward" for work... My first thought was that he had to unload a truck full jerrycans! ;D
LE
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I think he means he is so desperate for money and fuel he carries a couple of jerrycans of fuel in case he runs out of diesel. The whole song seems to be based on a very impoverished person.
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just a bit of correction it is 'they're laying off at ford'. I read somewhere that it is about the dry spell of the car industry in Detroit.
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just a bit of correction it is 'they're laying off at ford'. I read somewhere that it is about the dry spell of the car industry in Detroit.
Yes, and at Ford in Dagenham - Corned Beef City! :)
Welcome to AMIT btw rock13 :)
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I think he means he is so desperate for money and fuel he carries a couple of jerrycans of fuel in case he runs out of diesel. The whole song seems to be based on a very impoverished person.
I always thought he was stealing diesel from the trucks and putting it into Jerry cans.
Interesting that it is Ford! Makes sense. I always thought it was laying off at four.
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I think he means he is so desperate for money and fuel he carries a couple of jerrycans of fuel in case he runs out of diesel. The whole song seems to be based on a very impoverished person.
Interesting that it is Ford! Makes sense. I always thought it was laying off at four.
LOL. Until I actually read the lyrics, so did I!
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Still, I'm not sure what is the role of the main character in the song and what is he doing?
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I think this track and the title track both concern "Privateers" . The lead character in Corned Beef City is someone who is short of cash and is prepared to work for "cash in hand" or even some diesel, and by so doing bypassing the need to pay Taxes to the govenment .in effect working unofficially or "outside the law" governing normal employment.
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I can't figure this one: I got a pocket full of foldin' ?
What I think is that he's actually stealing diesel from the trucks that are parked at Ford
('cos they're layin' off at Ford)
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I can't figure this one: I got a pocket full of foldin' ?
What I think is that he's actually stealing diesel from the trucks that are parked at Ford
('cos they're layin' off at Ford)
"A pocket full of foldin'" Is paper money. :)
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Thank you superval99. :smack
Am I right in thinking he is stealing a diesel?
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Thank you superval99. :smack
Am I right in thinking he is stealing a diesel?
No. He's a lorry driver who's doing extra work "on the side" (cash in-hand) so than he can pay the bills at Christmas. The phrase "Cash in-hand" means exactly that; without going through the books and therefore paying no tax, therefore the payment for the work/job (in this case the delivery) will be made in cash.
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My take is that he was paid in kind so to say with the two jerry cans.. he got his "folding", but maybe he worked well or he was bargaining because he wanted more and got away with the two jerry cans. Something like that.
LE
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My take is that he was paid in kind so to say with the two jerry cans.. he got his "folding", but maybe he worked well or he was bargaining because he wanted more and got away with the two jerry cans. Something like that.
LE
I always presumed it was simply to fill up his tank.
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Thank you superval99. :smack
Am I right in thinking he is stealing a diesel?
No. He's a lorry driver who's doing extra work "on the side" (cash in-hand) so than he can pay the bills at Christmas. The phrase "Cash in-hand" means exactly that; without going through the books and therefore paying no tax, therefore the payment for the work/job (in this case the delivery) will be made in cash.
Thank you, I agree.
Though maybe he is not a lorry driver, maybe he's just a worker that unloads a gas from trucks tanks laying at Ford and selling it for cash in hand. Privateering. I think so because he is too poor to own his own truck, and in the song goes "wants the truck unloaded for cash in hand"? ... but - I agree it could be both...?
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Thank you superval99. :smack
Am I right in thinking he is stealing a diesel?
No. He's a lorry driver who's doing extra work "on the side" (cash in-hand) so than he can pay the bills at Christmas. The phrase "Cash in-hand" means exactly that; without going through the books and therefore paying no tax, therefore the payment for the work/job (in this case the delivery) will be made in cash.
Thank you, I agree.
Though maybe he is not a lorry driver, maybe he's just a worker that works the truck unloads for cash in hand. I think so because he is too poor to own his own truck, and in the song goes "wants the truck unloaded for cash in hand"?
Yeah, I think the lorry is owned by the company he works for and this work he is doing in the song is "on the side" meaning he is using his works lorry to earn money out of his hours/in his own time. AKA: moonlighting.