Requiem For Steam

Am C Am C F C Em Am Am When the signals were green did you sit by the line Dm G G/G# And watch for the fire in the sky Am Then a scream and a roar and the shivering ground Am Em Am And old Oliver Cromwell goes by C F Did you fancy your hand at the throttle and brake C Am With the steam driven into your soul C F Or to stand with the driving wheels under your feet C G Am And shovel a mountain of coal Am C Am C F C Em Am Am Well they've silenced the whistle; the coal is all burned Am Dm G G/G# And they've buried the ashes for good Am They've torn up the loop, and there's only a scar Am Em Am To show where the water-crane stood C F But the birch and the elder still follow the track C Am Standing black in the smoke and the rain C F And the poor little sheep with the smouldering back C G Am Runs away at the sound of a train Am C Am C F C Em Am Am O Britannias and Jubillees, Compounds and Crabs Am Dm G G/G# Have been taken away from the shed Am And along with the clipper, the coach and the cab Am Em Am They speak of an age that is dead C F For some are away to be mounted and stuffed C Am While others are butchered and sold C F And the steamraiser's gone for the very last time C G Am And his brazier's broken and cold Am C Am C F C Em Am Am Well I've given me kettle and me old tin can Am Dm G G/G# To a lad for a souvenir Am And I'd trade in me shovel for twenty fags Am Em Am Or the price of a bottle of beer C F For the Scotsman has come to the end of his run C Am And Mallard is cold as the stone C F The story is over, the giants are dead C G Am And the jackals are picking the bones Am C G Am