Good Old Bill Lyrics

Lyric discussion by Ollie-Barnes 

Cover art for Good Old Bill lyrics by Maccabees, The

it can only be about a train driver due to the line "I've lost all the coals" which is repeated twice in the final verse

The narrator is searching for the coals in frantic hope of starting a steam engine or otherwise metaphorically reviving Bill, the subject

perhaps he belives getting the steam engine running will revive his grandfather?

The coals suggest to me he could not have been a pilot as planes do not run on coal.

Powerful song with powerful lyrics