I remember my grandmother sat with her radio,
tea cup and walking stick set by her side
As her old fingers reached out to turn up the volume,
I learnt what it meant to be bursting with pride
She told me some tales of the wars great and last,
black and white film stars she'd liked in the past
Taught me a few songs she'd learnt as a child,
stunned by her wisdom I listened and smiled
She said to me "Lad if you'll be a musician,
go out and be one - but one with conviction
If there's just one lesson the young ought to learn,
it's pay no deposit and get no return"
On time faded photographs I've seen an airman,
stood next to the wing of a flying machine
and given the choice well I think I would rather
have done what I've done than seen what he's seen
I think that the Old Man feels really quite proud,
when he sits at the wheel and turns it up loud,
but imagined his son a lawyer or broker,
not sat on a bus full of drinkers and tokers
He said to me "Son you can do as you please,
but always stand straight - never crawl on your knees
If there's just one lesson the young ought to learn,
it's pay no deposit and get no return"
I've such a short time to tell you so much,
words come second best to a kiss or a touch
far thicker than water this blood we all share,
so please never think that for you I don't care
Fate may have driven us all separate ways,
but can't sever ancestry - splice DNA
if life seems a road that's uneven and long,
to know where you're going just look who you came from
Many have said I take after my mother,
for her '67 was not a good year
Though often I make her annoyed like no other,
through thick and through thin she has always been near
Sometimes in the cold now I catch myself smiling,
'bout some stupid joke or a christmas tree shining
I stood there so small 'neath that glittering tower,
it's memory a beacon in my darkest hour
She said to me "Martin, whatever you'll be,
there's no such thing as a meal that's for free
if there's just one lesson the young ought to learn,
it's pay no deposit and get no return