Billy was born within sight of the shipyard
  First son of a riveter's son
  And Billy was raised as the ship grew a shadow
  Her great hull would blot out the light of the sun
    And six days a week he would watch his poor father
  A working man live like a slave
  He'd drink every night and he'd dream of a future,
  Of money he never would save
  And Billy would cry when he thought of the future
    Soon came a day when the bottle was broken
  They launched the great ship out to sea
  He felt he'd been left on a desolate shore
  To a future he desperately wanted to flee
  What else was there for a shipbuilder's son
  A new ship to be built, new work to be done
    One day he dreamed of the ship in the world
  It would carry his father and he
  To a place they would never be found
  To a place far away from this town.
    Trapped in the cage of the skeleton ship
  All the workmen suspended like flies
  Caught in the flare of acetylene light
  A working man works till the industry dies
  And Billy would cry when he thought if the future
    Then what they call an industrial accident
  Crushed those it couldn't forgive
  They brought Billy's father back home in an ambulance
  A brass watch, a cheque, maybe three weeks to live,
  And what else was there for a riveter's son
  A new ship to be built, new work to be done
    That night, he dreamed of the ship in the world
  It would carry his father and he
  To a place they could never be found
  To a place far away from this town,
  A Newcastle ship without coals
  They would sail to the island of souls.