Words by Dave Boulton, music by Jeff Parton
When I was a lad I remember my dad
Said not to throw good things away
He had an old rhyme he’d recite all the time
And these are the words he would say
Chorus:
Make do and mend, tinker and tend
Never subscribe to the spon new and spend
Repair and refurbish, restore and refurnish
It’s waste not and want not and make do and mend
Now things that were loved get shifted and shoved
To make room for new fashions and whims
And I’m just a man who does what he can
To save things condemned to the bins
I go climbing in skips and rooting on tips
Car booters for miles around
White elephant stalls and sales in town halls
Wherever old treasures are found
I spend my time glueing and nailing and screwing
And working far into the night
Oiling and easing and tweaking and greasing
And putting old relics to rights
The attic and loft are stacked to the top
The shed’s packed from ceiling to floor
The state of the garage is wrecking my marriage
The cellar can’t hold anymore
(SPOKEN) I keep bits and bobs and I horde odd and sods
Such as valves for a Marconi wireless
And all the back issues of Billy the Fish
And an old stylophone with no stylus
A bakelite telly, a left handed welly
Old flares and my best kipper ties
A broken Dansette and an eight track cassette
And spare parts for a Sinclair C5
A map of Ceylon with the lettering gone
Some 1st world war memorabilia
And from 1902 and still looking like new
The Children’s Encyclopaedia
My old hippie sandals, a cast iron mangle
A bag of pre-decimal coppers
An oil effect lamp and some threepenny stamps
And a set of day glow deely boppers
Taxidermy tools and books nicked from school
And one of those bagatelle games
Some mains plugs from Tandy that might come in handy
If round pins should come back again
So I’ve got all the bits to fettle and fix
Your caravan, cooker or car
But there’ll be a delay for a couple of days
‘Cause I haven’t a clue where they are
1994 His Worship & the Pig