'49

Nineteen hundred and forty-nine
Was when the deal was made;
It's ironic that April Fool's
Was when the game was played.

Who'll ever know if the vote was rigged,
Or was it all a fraud?
B'ys you can all go burn your boats.
Well, you might as well, by God.

So, join up now, act fast, call soon
Before you're all flat broke;
It was pulled off on April Fool's,
But no one got the joke.

The politicians at your door,
They got us on the rack;
And once it's all been added up,
We know there ain't no turning back.

Once you sign away the right
To manage your own sea,
You just set yourself up
For bureaucratic misery.

Ain't it great that a land-locked state
Can run a fishery?
How five thousand goofs in Armani suits
Can understand poverty?

So, don't wait for the welfare state
To turn it all around;
Hold your head as steady as she goes,
Don't let the bastards grind you down.

Now forty odd years have come and gone,
That's a lot of wasted time;
Hindsight's a great thing to have,
So, remember forty-nine.