WHERE DOES POOR PA GO IN THE BLACKOUT?


Norman Long - 1940


The War has provided some problems
That have worried us all quite a lot
How can we live when the price of our food
Is fourteen and thruppence a box
But the thing that worries me
And the whole darn family

Is where can poor Pa go in the blackout
Where can poor Pa go at nights
He can't find his way to his favourite club
He can't find his pals 'cause he can't find the pub

So, where does poor Pa go in the blackout
He stays home and glares at the kids
He grumbles at Mother, she grumbles at him
And says, "Well, go out, I'm not keeping you in"

So, Father goes out in the blackout
Although it is pouring with rain
And just as he gets out, then off goes the siren
So he comes right home again

Where can poor Pa go in the blackout
Where can poor Pa go at nights
There aren't any pools and he doesn't play Nap
His coat's in the tool shed, he can't find his cap 

So, what does Pa do in the blackout
He stays home and mopes by the fire
He can't spend his money and Mother knows that
She takes it all from him to buy a new hat

So, Father he curses the blackout
And says it will drive him insane
He pops his head out and then off goes a siren
So he pops it back again

We know where the flies go in Winter
We've all known that old one for years
And most of our lads have by now found the daughter
Of Mam'selle from Armentieres
But there's one thing must remain
So I ask you once again

What can poor Pa do in the blackout
What can poor Pa do at nights
If he gets to the pub, well, it's tenpence a pint
It costs him at least thirty bob to get tight

So, what does Pa do in the blackout
He just sits at home and looks glum
He started on fretwork, he painted the bath
But Mother sat in it, we didn't arf laugh

And Father was out in the blackout
And Mother screamed out with the pain
And as soon as he heard it, he thought 'twas the siren
So he rushed right home again

Where can poor Pa go in the blackout
Where can poor Pa go at night
His pals are all stuck in their homes just like him
They cannot get out, so they gotta stop in

So what can poor Pa do in the blackout
He says that it's driving him mad
He puts on the wireless and what does he get
Just Haw-Haw and Boo-Hoo, and they're pretty wet

So he tries to go out in the blackout
But he goes and falls right down a drain
He limps back to Mother and she tells him he's drunk
And so he limps right out again



(Transcribed by Mel Priddle - March 2016)