Jack Of All Trades

In nineteen-eighty-five
In a quiet fishing village where I was well known
In a time of recession
With a wife and three children, I built our new home
As a backyard mechanic
I'd fix up their old cars when something went wrong
And I'd be the first one
To give them a loan when their money was gone

As I was a plumber
And I was a carpenter in my spare time
And out on the Grand Banks
I worked on the big ones until eighty-nine
And I was the musician
At parties and weddings I played and I sang
As I'm Jack of all trades
But least I can say, I'm a fisherman

I am a fisherman
And just like my father before me, I'm a preacher, a teacher
I can be anything
That you want me to be
And I am the critic
Who fights the politicians to get the work done
'Cause I'm Jack of all trades,
But least I can say, I'm a fisherman

Now, the years have gone by
There are tears in my eyes, and my children have grown
My old boat is all dry
There it sits on its side, down the path from my home
My old house is still standing
"For Sale," the sign reads, standing out on the lawn
And to each I explains
All the hardships and gains of a fisherman

I am a fisherman
And just like my father before me, I'm a preacher, a teacher
I can be anything
That you want me to be
And I am the critic
Who fights the politicians to get the work done
'Cause I'm Jack of all trades
But least I can say, I'm a fisherman

Now it's nineteen-ninety-four
I go fishin' no more.... Don't you think that it's cruel?
Almost fifty years old
And today I was told I should go back to school
I've got no diploma
And I've got no papers to prove what I am
Life can be hard for me
'Cause I've got no degree; I'm a fisherman

I am a fisherman
And just like my father before me, I'm a preacher, a teacher
I can be anything
That you want me to be
And I am the critic
Who fights the politicians to get the work done
'Cause I'm Jack of all trades
But least I can say, I'm a fisherman

Least I can say, I'm a fisherman