C G C G F C G F C Am F C G C

[Verse]
C                                  G                   C
My father was a big strong man, he worked hard all his life
                                       G
He was always in the whisky glass and never out of strife
   F                              C             Am
He called no man his master, and very few his friend
     F                                     C               G
A proud and stiff-necked man he was, he’d never bowed nor bend
         F         C       G                  C
But they broke him in the end, when they'd no use for him

[Chorus]
C                                         G               C
For they took away his job when they'd no use for him any more
                                G
After nearly thirty years they kicked him out the door
         F                                  C           Am
But they let him keep his railway jacket, overcoat, and cap
        F                                 C            G
And a pension of nine bob a week, he was lucky to get that
          F      C          G                    C
And they nearly broke his heart, when they'd no use for him

[Verse]
C                                 G                 C
Now I spent much of my childhood days up in that signal box
                                   G
High in my father's castle, twenty feet above the tracks
     F                            C
And crash would go the signals as he flicked them with his hand
        F                              C                      G
And the mighty cars of steam and steel would stop at his command
    F       C       G                     C
And oh, but it was grand, when they had a use for him

[Chorus]
C                                        G               C
But they took away his job when they'd no use for him any more
                                G
After nearly thirty years they kicked him out the door
         F                                  C           Am
But they let him keep his railway jacket, overcoat, and cap
        F                                 C            G
And a pension of nine bob a week, he was lucky to get that
          F      C          G                    C
And they nearly broke his heart, when they'd no use for him

[Verse]
C                                 G                        C
When you're fifty-five years old and youre looking for some work
                               G
Nobody wants to know your face no-one gives you a start
F                                       C             Am
So I watched him growing older and more bitter every day
     F                               C                G
As his pride and self-respect, well they slowly drain away
          F       C        G                 C
There was nothing I could say - they had no use for him

[Chorus]
C                                         G               C
For they took away his job when they'd no use for him any more
                                G
After nearly thirty years they kicked him out the door
         F                                  C           Am
But they let him keep his railway jacket, overcoat, and cap
        F                                 C            G
And a pension of nine bob a week, he was lucky to get that
          F      C          G                    C
And they nearly broke his heart, when they'd no use for him
F     C          G           G                   C
Yes I know they broke his heart when they'd no use for him.