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Don't Get To Be A Bum

Well I ended up with a job the other day,
It's lots of hard work and a low rate of pay;
Leave at dawn and it's tea-time when I walk in the door;
And I don't get to be a bum anymore.

I was fillin' in a form for that Centrelink mob,
And they noticed it was five years since I had a job;
I was filed and cross-referenced like never before;
And I don't get to be a bum anymore.

I went to the interview determined to fail,
So I told the boss I just got out of jail;
He said he'd been paroled just three months before;
So I don't get to be a bum anymore.

I worked really slow and I tried bein' slack,
Hopin' the foreman would give me the sack;
'Cause the workplace agreement means I'm stuck here for sure;
And I won't get to be a bum anymore.

On Tuesdee the foreman said, Take my advice:
You're slow, and you're slack, and your work isn't nice.
You offer so little and expect so much more;
And that's how you got to be a bum before.

By Wensdee at smoko I needed a rest,
I'd been sloggin' me guts out, doin' me best;
Till me blisters had blisters and me back was too sore
To remember what it's like bein' a bum anymore.

It was late Thursdee arvo when we finished that job;
I tightened the bolts down and polished the knob.
As we packed up our tool-kits, it started to pour,
And our cheer of satisfaction was a deafening roar.

On Fridee the boss came and gave me me pay;
It was three times the dole, mate, so I said, Hurray!
I paid all me bills and had enough left to score,
So I don't mind not bein' a bum anymore;
No, I'm not gunna be a bum anymore.

Learn more about this author, Veronica Cooling.
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