"No Deposit, No Return" lyrics - SKYCLAD

SKYCLAD
"No Deposit, No Return"
(George Biddle / Steve Ramsey / Skyclad)

I remember my grandmother sat with her radio
Teacup and walking stick set by her side
As her old fingers reached out to turn up the volume
I learnt what it meant to be bursting with pride
She told me some tales of the wars great and last
Black-and-white film stars she'd liked in the past
Taught me a few songs she'd learnt as a child
Stunned by her wisdom I listened and smiled

She said to me "Lad, if you'll be a musician
Then go out and be one but one with conviction
If there's one lesson the young ought to learn,
It's: pay no deposit and get no return"

Get no return, pay no deposit and get no return

On time-faded photographs I've seen an airman
Stood next to the wings of a flying machine
And given the choice well I think I would rather
Have done what I've done than seen what he's seen
I think that the Old Man feels really quite proud
When he sits at the wheel and turns it up loud
But imagined his son a lawyer or broker
Not sat on a bus full of drinkers and tokers

He said to me: "Son you can do as you please
But always stand straight, never crawl on your knees
If there's just one lesson the young ought to learn
It's pay no deposit and get no return"

If there's one lesson the young ought to learn
It's: pay no deposit and get no return
Get no return, pay no deposit and get no return

I've such a short time to tell you so much
Words come second best to a kiss or a touch
Far thicker than water this blood we all share
So please don't think that for you I don't care
Fate may have driven us all separate ways
But can't sever ancestry, splice DNA
If life seems a road that's uneven and long
To know where you're going, just look who you came from

Many have said I take after my mother
For her '67 was not a good year
Though often I make her annoyed like no other
Through thick and through thin she has always been near
Sometimes in the cold now I catch myself smiling
'Bout some stupid joke or a Christmas tree shining
I stood there so small 'neath that glittering tower
It's memory a beacon in my darkest hour

She said to me: "Martin, whatever you'll be
There's no such thing as a meal that's for free
If there's one lesson the young ought to learn
It's pay no deposit and get no return"

If there's one lesson the young ought to learn
It's: pay no deposit and get no return
Get no return, pay no deposit and get no return