[Verse 1]
Alfred and Beatrice and Muriel too
Over the shop where the train passes through
Play happy families, the cards fall in pairs
Alderman-preacher runs up and down stairs

[Verse 2]
For Muriel, a sister but never a friend
Kept well apart in the same gable end
Following father, at odds with the world
A chip off the old block, the scholarship girl

[Chorus 1]
Not any better the devil you know
Waiting for Margaret to go
Not any better the devil you know
Waiting for Margaret to go, oh
Waiting for Margaret to go

[Verse 3]
Oxford food chemistry, mеnd and make do
Society turned hеr the truest of blue
Back in the shop Mr Roberts had taught
That people like flour can be sold and be bought

[Chorus 2]
Masters above and servants below
Waiting for Margaret to go
Masters above and servants below
Waiting for Margaret to go, oh
Waiting for Margaret to go
[Verse 4]
Up to the house where the loyalty wears
Thinner than carpets on father's old stairs
Her friends like her enemies stretched on the rack
Play happy families but don’t turn your back

[Chorus 3]
The grocers and Methodists lay her down low
Waiting for Margaret to go
The grocers and Methodists lay her down low
Waiting for Margaret to go, oh
Waiting for Margaret to go

[Verse 5]
Alfred, he closes the shop one more time
Little girl singing her nursery rhymes
"Here comes a candle to light you to bed
"Here comes a chopper to chop off your head!"

[Chorus 4]
Down with the shutters and on with the show
No more waiting for Margaret to go
Down with the shutters and on with the show
No more waiting for Margaret to go
No more waiting for Margaret to go