Missing You
Yearning Across the Ocean: 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
For a carpenter (chippie), there are limited opportunities beyond manual labor
And you can't live on love, no not on love alone
Love alone is not enough to sustain a living
So you sail cross the ocean, away across the foam
Choosing to leave and work abroad (sail cross the ocean)
To where you're a Paddy, a Biddy you're a Mick
In a foreign land, adopting Irish identities (Paddy, Biddy, Mick)
Good for nothing but stacking the brick
Assigned to menial tasks like bricklaying
Your best mate's a spade and he carries a hod
The closest companion is a shovel, and the work involves carrying bricks
Two work horses heavily shod
Reference to strong and sturdy workhorses
Oh I am missing you
Expressing the feeling of longing
I'd give all for the price of a flight
Willing to sacrifice everything for a return flight
Oh I am missing you
Reiteration of the emotional yearning
Under Piccadilly's neon
Amidst the bright lights of Piccadilly
Who did you murder, are you a spy?
Suspicions about the person's past, questioning if they are a criminal or spy
I'm just fond of a drink helps me laugh, helps me cry
Admitting a fondness for alcohol for emotional relief
Now I just drink red biddy for a permanent high
Turning to a strong drink (red biddy) for a lasting high
I laugh a lot less and I'll cry till I die
Experiencing a decrease in laughter and an increase in tears
Oh I am missing you
Repeating the sense of yearning
I'd give all for the price of a flight
Willing to trade everything for the cost of a return flight
Oh I am missing you
Expressing the emotional void
Under Piccadilly's neon
Amidst the neon lights of Piccadilly
All ye young people now take my advice
Offering advice to young people to carefully consider moving abroad
Before crossing the ocean you'd better think twice
Highlighting the importance of love in life
Cause you can't live without love, without love alone
Observation of loneliness in the area around London
The proof is round London in the nobody zone
Referencing the desolate state of the "nobody zone"
Where the summer is fine, but the winter's a fridge
Contrasting seasons but emphasizing the harshness of winter
Wrapped up in old cardboard
Describing the living conditions under Charing Cross Bridge
Under Charing Cross Bridge
Expressing a sense of shame preventing a return home
And I'll never go home now because of the shame
Feeling like a misfit with a reflected image in a shop window
Of this misfit's reflection in a shop window pane.
Oh I am missing you
Reiterating the strong feeling of missing someone
I'd give all for the price of a flight
Expressing a willingness to sacrifice everything for a chance to return
Oh I am missing you
Repetition of the emotional yearning
Under Piccadilly's neon
Amidst the lights of Piccadilly
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