Notes: Andy M. Stewart first recorded this song with "Silly Wizard" on the album
Kiss
the Tears Away. It also appears on The Best of Silly Wizard and Live Wizardry. It has been recorded many times by many
different artists since he wrote it in the mid-80s. In concert, Andy
describes this as a "typical Scottish love song" -- it involves
an unobtainable woman and strong drink.
In the chorus, sometimes the word "morning" is used rather than
"marvel" ... in her smile.
Chorus:
Oh, there're sober men in plenty,
And drunkards barely twenty,
There are men of over ninety
That have never yet kissed a girl.
But gie me a ramblin' rover,
And fae Orkney down to Dover.
We will roam the country over
And together we'll face the world.
There's many that feign enjoyment
From merciless employment,
Their ambition was this deployment
From the minute they left the school.
And they save and scrape and ponder
While the rest go out and squander,
See the world and rove and wander
And are happier as a rule.
I've roamed through all the nations
Ta'en delight in all creation,
And I've tried a wee sensation
Where the company, did prove kind.
And when partin' was no pleasure,
I've drunk another measure
To the good friends that were treasure
For they always are in our minds.
If you're bent wi' arth-i-ritis,
Your bowels have got colitis,
You've gallopin' with bollockitis
And you're thinkin' it's time you died,
If you been a man of action,
Though you're lying there in traction,
You will get some satisfaction
Thinkin', "Jesus, at least I tried."