Missing You
Sailing Across the Foam: A Migrant's Tale in 1986
Lyrics
In nineteen hundred and eighty six
In the year 1986
There's not much for a chippie but swinging a pick
There's not much for a carpenter (chippie) except working with a pick (tool)
And you can't live on love, on love alone
Living solely on love is not practical
So you sail cross the ocean, away cross the foam
Sailing across the ocean, leaving one's homeland
To where you're a Paddy, a Biddy or a Mick
Referring to Irish identities - Paddy, Biddy, or Mick
Good for nothing but stacking a brick
Being seen as worthless, only good for manual labor like bricklaying
Your best mate's a spade and he carries a hod
Close friend is a shovel (spade) carrier, working in construction
Two work horses heavily shod
Reference to strong, hardworking horses used in manual labor
Oh I'm missing you
Expressing a sense of longing and yearning for someone
I'd give all for the price of a flight
Willing to sacrifice everything for the cost of a plane ticket
Oh I'm missing you
Reiteration of the emotional absence and yearning
Under Piccadilly's neon
Located under the neon lights of Piccadilly (a bustling area in London)
Who did you murder, are you a spy?
Questioning the listener about potential wrongdoing or espionage
I'm just fond of a drink helps me laugh, helps me cry
Admitting a fondness for alcohol, using it for both laughter and tears
So I just drink red biddy for a permanent high
Choosing to consume "red biddy" (cheap wine) for a lasting sense of euphoria
I laugh a lot less and I'll cry till I die
Experiencing reduced laughter and increased sorrow
All ye young people now take my advice
Offering advice to young people, suggesting careful consideration before leaving home
Before crossing the ocean you'd better think twice
Emphasizing the importance of love, as demonstrated by the emptiness in London
Cause you can't live without love, without love alone
Reiterating the inability to live without love alone
The proof is round London in the nobody zone
Observing the lack of love in the area around London
Where the summer is fine, but the winter's a fridge
Describing the weather conditions in London - fine in summer but harsh in winter
Wrapped up in old cardboard under Charing Cross Bridge
Depicting a homeless person's situation under Charing Cross Bridge
And I'll never go home now because of the shame
Expressing the shame preventing the speaker from returning home
Of misfit's reflection in a shop window pane
Feeling like a misfit, reflected in a shop window
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