[Verse 1]
Pennies from heaven, don't make me laugh
Here all you'll get is the pattering rain
Or yon two crows up over the hill
Looking for winterkill
Always at your boots, the mud behind the byre
With its clammy hold
Would mock you up a grave here in the mire
Of a wrecked sheepfold

[Chorus]
And all you'll bring to this is muscle and grit
Persistence, that's just about it
What made you think there'd be a living in sheep?
Eat, work, eat, work and sleep

[Verse 2]
Duck under the eaves of the bothy
To sit here, caged by rain
Somewhere to go, conjure a next move
When I have to think again
The dog lifts his gaze to plead
Believes the wizard has a magic stick
Leans his weight into my tweed
I give an unholy hand to lick
[Chorus]
I take a swig of sheep dip from my flask
And once again I ask
What made you think there'd be a living in sheep?
Eat, work, eat, work and sleep

[Verse 3]
They were at this game two hundred years ago
Had thirty ways of dying young, poor souls
Laid to rest in their soggy rows
Rain on their holy books
Blood and whisky on the tongue
And no one watching over anyone
No one left but your stubborn one
And the crows and rooks

[Chorus]
Ah, the dying young
Well, I'm not done
You watch me and I'll watch thee
I can still work for two men and drink for three
And I raise my flask to the clearing skies
To you, sweepers, you carrion spies
To scavenge and survive
If you can do it, so can I