Golden was the bird I knew,
Sang a song so free then flew,
And they won't come back,
Can't come back.

Golden was the bird long gone,
Sang a little while, flew on,
And they won't come back,
Can't come back.

Yeah, I woke one morning, long time gone,
A magpie’d come to steal away my song,
Was up against the window yeah tapping on the pane,
But it couldn't get in, no, kept calling my name.

Golden was the bird,
And they won't come back.

I'm a working man,
And I've got working hands,
And I've worked the land for ages, hmm.

But the toll this life has taken,
Is a back that’s always aching,
And if my scars could tell their tales,
It'd take a long, long time,
You'd hear about broken bones and splinters.

Yeah, tankard ales and long dark winters,
A laureate who’s not worried at the rhyme.

Oh but when the rain comes down,
I stop the rain from falling on the ground.

I'm a working man,
And I've got working hands,
I've worked the land for ages, hmm,
For ages, hmm.