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Corned Beef City Lyrics
Early in the morning
Going to meet a man
Wants a truck unloading
For cash-in-hand
You don't ask questions
When there's nothing in the bank
Got to feed the kids
And put the diesel in the tank
Bacon, egg and sausage
Double chips and beans
Tea and bread and butter
And a day on the machines
Christmas is coming
With the final demand
What you got going
For cash in hand
So it ain't too pretty
Corned Beef City
It ain't too pretty
Corned Beef City
Early in the morning
Where the trucks all stand
I've got a pocket full of folding
And a pair of jerry cans
I've got to keep it going
They're laying off at Ford
I'm only one step ahead
Of my room and board
So it ain't too pretty
Corned Beef City
It ain't too pretty
Corned Beef City
Early in the morning
Going to meet a man
Wants a truck unloading
For cash-in-hand
You don't ask questions
When there's nothing in the bank
Got to feed the kids
And put the diesel in the tank
So it ain't too pretty
Corned Beef City
It ain't too pretty
Corned Beef City
Going to meet a man
Wants a truck unloading
For cash-in-hand
You don't ask questions
When there's nothing in the bank
Got to feed the kids
And put the diesel in the tank
Double chips and beans
Tea and bread and butter
And a day on the machines
Christmas is coming
With the final demand
What you got going
For cash in hand
Corned Beef City
It ain't too pretty
Corned Beef City
Where the trucks all stand
I've got a pocket full of folding
And a pair of jerry cans
I've got to keep it going
They're laying off at Ford
I'm only one step ahead
Of my room and board
Corned Beef City
It ain't too pretty
Corned Beef City
Going to meet a man
Wants a truck unloading
For cash-in-hand
You don't ask questions
When there's nothing in the bank
Got to feed the kids
And put the diesel in the tank
Corned Beef City
It ain't too pretty
Corned Beef City
Song Info
Submitted by
mike On Sep 13, 2012
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I'm trying to make sense of these lines:
"Early in the morning Where the trucks all stand I've got a pocket full of folding And a pair of jerry cans"
Is it that the speaker intends to buy diesel from the lorry drivers (who for money will look the other way because their company and not the drivers bought the fuel)?
@ShaggyD I see it as he had run out of cash and out of gas, worked a side gig the previous day (“for cash in hand”) and went to a truck stop to fill his gas cans with the money he made from the side gig.
@ShaggyD I see it as he had run out of cash and out of gas, worked a side gig the previous day (“for cash in hand”) and went to a truck stop to fill his gas cans with the money he made from the side gig.
Guardian article on Corned Beef City - https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2009/oct/09/bartons-britain-becontree-estate
"The Becontree estate, in the London borough of Barking and Dagenham, has a population of 100,000 and is the largest public housing development in the world. Between 1921 and 1932, 27,000 houses were built here as homes for heroes after the first world war, and to rehouse the residents of London's East End slums. For the first time, they had running water, indoor toilets and private gardens, but its residents were still poor enough to earn the estate the nickname Corned Beef City (because it was thought to be all they could afford to eat)."
Other articles mention strict rent requirements. Any missed payment, and your family was tossed out on the lawn to let someone else move in.
The song appears to be a man trying to keep his family housed in this area by doing any odd jobs (legal or otherwise) to make the rent.