Ballad of the Roustabout
and other songs from the North Sea
My father was Apache
my mother Cherokee
they had a little warrior
that warrior was me.
I was born in the Dust Bowl
on an Oklahama farm
got no formal education
but a strong and willing arm.
Chorus:
I am a roaming roustabout
a traveler without roots
the owner of a hard hat
and a pair of safety boots.
I left my home at fifteen
looking for the stars
but all I found was oilmen
I met them in the bars.
They spoke of jobs and money
of fights and fun and girls
of many different countries
of pretty Eastern pearls.
Chorus:
I am a roaming roustabout
a traveler without roots
the owner of a hard hat
and a pair of safety boots.
I got a job in Texas
and worked from field to field
from Canada to Panama
for what the earth would yield.
In Libya and Lebanon
in Persia and Kuwait
in Tripoli and Nigeria
we did our job all right.
Chorus:
I am a roaming roastabout
a traveler without roots
the owner of a hard hat
and a pair of safety boots.
My body is a scrapbook
of what I`ve done and seen
each scar an aching memory
from places I have been.
Age is slowly catching up
I hurt so bad at nights
from accidents on the job
and a hundred barrom fights.
Chorus:
I am a roaming roustabout
a traveler without roots
the owner of a hard hat
and a pair of safety boots.
This last one is a heavy task
the rough old Nortern Sea
when this is finished I am done
- I am retiring me.
So fill your glasses all my friends
and drink the liquor down
and skoal to you my little blond
from old Stavanger town.
Chorus:
I am a roaming roustabout
a traveler without roots
the owner of a hard hat
and a pair of safety boots.