Oh, such a glowering weary day
As he traipsed over the fields
With a droop-tailed dew-dropped drizzled dog
Padding along at his heels
A split in the cloud threw sunlight
Like a dagger ripping open the sky
He could see by his breath there'd be a frost tonight
And the wind whipped a tear from his eye

Screwed to a ball in his pocket
Was the letter that said they'd foreclose
And hawthorn snagged at his jacket
As the anger inside fell and rose
The chasm before him seemed massive
Though used to a living so harsh
The sheep on the fell-side impassive
Nipping the thin winter grass

Red sky in the morning
Sailor beware at first light
There will not be any warning
There's going to be a red sky tonight

Far from his mind was the springtime
The lambing and starting new
The wild summer hills in their beauty
And the cry of the lapwing and ewe
The living a hill shepherd scratches
At the end of the tunnel the light
Would be from a box of matches
There's going to be a red sky tonight
There's going to be a red sky tonight